ASSAULT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Assault mean? 

• ASSAULT (noun)
  The noun ASSAULT has 4 senses:

1. close fighting during the culmination of a military attack

2. a threatened or attempted physical attack by someone who appears to be able to cause bodily harm if not stopped

3. thoroughbred that won the triple crown in 1946

4. the crime of forcing a person to submit to sexual intercourse against his or her will

  Familiarity information: ASSAULT used as a noun is uncommon.

• ASSAULT (verb)
  The verb ASSAULT has 3 senses:

1. attack someone physically or emotionally

2. force (someone) to have sex against their will

3. attack in speech or writing

  Familiarity information: ASSAULT used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ASSAULT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Close fighting during the culmination of a military attack

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("assault" is a kind of...):

battle; conflict; engagement; fight (a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "assault"):

resisting arrest (physical efforts to oppose a lawful arrest; the resistance is classified as assault and battery upon the person of the police officer attempting to make the arrest)

storm (a direct and violent assault on a stronghold)

Holonyms ("assault" is a part of...):

attack; onrush; onset; onslaught ((military) an offensive against an enemy (using weapons))

Sense 2

Meaning:

A threatened or attempted physical attack by someone who appears to be able to cause bodily harm if not stopped

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("assault" is a kind of...):

attack; attempt (the act of attacking)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "assault"):

assault and battery; battery (an assault in which the assailant makes physical contact)

mugging (assault with intent to rob)

aggravated assault (a reckless attack with intent to injure seriously (as with a deadly weapon))

Derivation:

assault (attack someone physically or emotionally)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Thoroughbred that won the triple crown in 1946

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Instance hypernyms:

thoroughbred (a racehorse belonging to a breed that originated from a cross between Arabian stallions and English mares)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The crime of forcing a person to submit to sexual intercourse against his or her will

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

assault; rape; ravishment; violation

Hypernyms ("assault" is a kind of...):

sex crime; sex offense; sexual abuse; sexual assault (a statutory offense that provides that it is a crime to knowingly cause another person to engage in an unwanted sexual act by force or threat)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "assault"):

date rape (rape in which the rapist is known to the victim (as when they are on a date together))

carnal abuse; statutory rape (sexual intercourse with a person (girl or boy) who has not reached the age of consent (even if both parties participate willingly))

Derivation:

assault (attack someone physically or emotionally)

• ASSAULT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they assault    ... he / she / it assaults   
Past simple: assaulted   
Past participle: assaulted   
-ing form: assaulting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Attack someone physically or emotionally

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

assail; assault; attack; set on

Context example:

Nightmares assailed him regularly

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "assault"):

blindside (attack or hit on or from the side where the attacked person's view is obstructed)

molest (harass or assault sexually; make indecent advances to)

desecrate; outrage; profane; violate (violate the sacred character of a place or language)

assault; dishonor; dishonour; outrage; rape; ravish; violate (force (someone) to have sex against their will)

beset; set upon (assail or attack on all sides:)

jump (make a sudden physical attack on)

reassail (assail again)

savage (attack brutally and fiercely)

rush (attack suddenly)

bulldog (attack viciously and ferociously)

set; sic (urge to attack someone)

bait (attack with dogs or set dogs upon)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

assault (a threatened or attempted physical attack by someone who appears to be able to cause bodily harm if not stopped)

assault (the crime of forcing a person to submit to sexual intercourse against his or her will)

assaulter (someone who attacks)

assaultive (disposed to attack)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Force (someone) to have sex against their will

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

assault; dishonor; dishonour; outrage; rape; ravish; violate

Context example:

The woman was raped on her way home at night

Hypernyms (to "assault" is one way to...):

assail; assault; attack; set on (attack someone physically or emotionally)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "assault"):

gang-rape (rape (someone) successively with several attackers)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

assaultive (disposed to attack)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Attack in speech or writing

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

assail; assault; attack; lash out; round; snipe

Context example:

The editors of the left-leaning paper attacked the new House Speaker

Hypernyms (to "assault" is one way to...):

criticise; criticize; knock; pick apart (find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "assault"):

blister; scald; whip (subject to harsh criticism)

rubbish (attack strongly)

barrage; bombard (address with continuously or persistently, as if with a barrage)

whang (attack forcefully)

vitriol (subject to bitter verbal abuse)

claw (attack as if with claws)

abuse; blackguard; clapperclaw; shout (use foul or abusive language towards)

rip (criticize or abuse strongly and violently)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

assaulter (someone who attacks)

assaultive (disposed to attack)

 Context examples 

This device was invented three years ago and could reportedly serve military assault or logistics purposes.

(French inventor Franky Zapata successfully crosses English Channel on jet-powered hoverboard, Wikinews)

The atoms in carbon monoxide form an extremely strong bond that can uniquely withstand the thermal and radiational assault on the daysides of these planets.

(Water Is Destroyed, Then Reborn in Ultrahot Jupiters, NASA/JPL)

Surely to assault truth is a more serious misdemeanor than to insult a pygmy personality such as the judge's.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Got so touchy that he assaults anyone who asks questions, and heaves reporters down the stairs.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Do you imagine that this anæmic youth was capable of so frightful an assault?

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Among other findings, they identified the increasing consumption of this genus as a drug, and, on several occasions, its use in sexual assaults.

(Scientists examine the ethnobotanical uses of stramonium, University of Granada)

It was a most furious assault.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Binge drinking - drinking five or more drinks at one time - can damage your health and increase your risk for accidents, injuries and assault.

(Alcohol, NIH: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism)

A shorter life may be the price an organism pays for coping with the natural assaults of daily living.

(Defending against environmental stressors may shorten lifespan, National Institutes of Health)

In autoimmune diseases, white blood cells become overactive, and instead of attacking bacteria and viruses, the immune system assaults various tissues in the body.

(Anti-inflammatory Drugs Also Fight Depression, Voanews)