assault

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To attack someone violently.

   The man was charged with assaulting a police officer.

2. 2
   noun

   A violent physical attack on someone.

   He was the victim of a brutal assault.

3. 3
   noun

   A strong military attack on a place.

   The army launched an assault on the enemy base.

4. 4
   verb

   To strongly criticize someone or something in words.

   The newspaper assaulted the company over its pollution record.

Common collocations

• sexual assault Adjective + noun

From Middle English assaut, from Old French noun assaut, derived from the past participle of the verb assalir, from Late Latin assalīre, from Latin ad (“at, towards”) + salīre (“jump”). See also assail. Spelling Latinized around 1530 to add an l.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images