attack

verb

apply violent force to someone or something
take the initiative and go on the offensive
to make an attack, criticize strongly

L3264 on Wikidata ↗

noun

offensive movement in fencing
action to injure or take action against another entity or organism

L7980 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /əˈtæk/ / /əˈtak/ / /əˈtɛk/

adj

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Italian a- Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- Proto-Italic *dis- Latin dis- Old French des- Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- Proto-Germanic *stikaną Proto-West Germanic *stekander. Old French atachier Old French destachier Middle French destacherbor. Italian distaccare Italian staccare Italian attaccarebor. French attaquerdeverb. French attaquebor. English attack Borrowed from French attaque, derived from the verb attaquer, from Italian attaccare (“to join, attach”) (used in attaccare battaglia (“to join battle”)), from Frankish *stakkijan (“to stick, stick to, attach”). Doublet of attach. Displaced native Middle English onresen, from Old English onrǣsan (“to attack”); and Middle English resinge (“an assault, attack”) (compare Old English onrǣs (“an attack”)).

Designed or kept for the purpose of confrontation.
“attack dog, attack ad”

noun

An attempt to cause damage, injury to, or death of an opponent or enemy.
“From 1906 to 1960, there were forty-six recorded shark attacks, half of which were fatal.”
“One particularly damaging, but often ignored, effect of conflict on education is the proliferation of attacks on schools[…]as children, teachers or school buildings become the targets of attacks. Parents fear sending their children to school. Girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence.”
An attempt to cause damage, injury to, or death of an opponent or enemy.
“Combat in Mimesis Online is nice and simple. You click on your target […] and then keep right-clicking your chosen attack from the drop down menu. Every time you right click on the attack, your character will swing, shoot, etc.”
“Kleavor has several attacks that it's worth roughly memorising: a charge attack, where it runs at you quickly; a jump attack, that causes a pillar of rock to spike out from under the ground; and a spin attack that does damage in a circle around it.”
An attempt to detract from the worth or credibility of, a person, position, idea, object, or thing, by physical, verbal, emotional, or other assault.
““I came down like a wolf on the fold, didn’t I ? Why didn’t I telephone ? Strategy, my dear boy, strategy. This is a surprise attack, and I’d no wish that the garrison, forewarned, should escape. …””
“They claimed the censorship of the article was an attack on free speech.”
A time in which one attacks; the offence of a battle.
“The army timed their attack to coincide with the local celebrations.”
The beginning of active operations on anything.
“Having washed the plates from dinner, I made an attack on the laundry.”
An attempt to exploit a vulnerability in a computer system.
“birthday attack; denial-of-service attack”
Collectively, the bowlers of a cricket side.
Any contact with the ball other than a serve or block which sends the ball across the plane of the net.
The three attackmen on the field or all the attackmen of a team.
The sudden onset of a disease or condition.
“I've had an attack of the flu.”
An active episode of a chronic or recurrent disease.
The onset of a musical note, particularly with respect to the strength (and duration) of that onset.
“Eric Reed was a curious choice as pianist, since his busy Petersonian attack is the antithesis of Lewis's, but he acquitted himself with panache, […]”
The amount of time taken for the volume of an audio signal to go from zero to maximum level (e.g. an audio waveform representing a snare drum hit would feature a very fast attack, whereas that of a wave washing to shore would feature a slow attack).
The initial sensory impact of a wine.
Short for heart attack.

verb

To apply violent force to someone or something.
“This species of snake will only attack humans if it feels threatened.”
“Yesterday, December seventh, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”
To aggressively challenge a person, idea, etc., with words (particularly in newspaper headlines, because it typesets into less space than "criticize" or similar).
“She published an article attacking the recent pay cuts.”
“It was puzzling to read a column that claimed to be attacking me, yet espoused the main ideas in my article.”
To begin to affect; to act upon injuriously or destructively; to begin to decompose or waste.
“On the fourth of March he was attacked by fever.”
“Hydrofluoric acid […] attacks the glass.”
To deal with something in a direct way; to set to work upon.
“We’ll have dinner before we attack the biology homework.”
“I attacked the meal with a hearty appetite.”
To aim balls at the batsman’s wicket.
To set a field, or bowl in a manner designed to get wickets.
To bat aggressively, so as to score runs quickly.
To move forward in an active attempt to score a point, as opposed to trying not to concede.
“Six successive defeats had left them rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table but, clearly under instructions to attack from the outset, Bolton started far the brighter.”
To accelerate quickly in an attempt to get ahead of the other riders.
(Of a chemical species) To approach a chemical species or bond in order to form a bond with it.