1. (v.t.)assail to attack vigorously or violently; assault.
2. assail to attack verbally, as with arguments, criticism, or abuse.
3. assail to make an impact on; beset: The harsh light assailed their eyes.
Etymology: (1175–1225; ME asaylen < OF
Definition of 'assail'
Princeton's WordNet
1. (verb)assail, assault, set on, attack attack someone physically or emotionally "The mugger assaulted the woman"; "Nightmares assailed him regularly"
2. (verb)attack, assail launch an attack or assault on; beginhostilities or start warfare with "Hitler attacked Poland on September 1, 1939 and started World War II"; "Serbian forces assailed Bosnian towns all week"
3. (verb)attack, round, assail, lash out, snipe, assault attack in speech or writing "The editors of the left-leaning paper attacked the new House Speaker"
Definition of 'assail'
Webster Dictionary
1. (verb)assail to attack with violence, or in a vehement and hostile manner; to assault; to molest; as, to assail a man with blows; to assail a city with artillery
2. (verb)assail to encounter or meet purposely with the view of mastering, as an obstacle, difficulty, or the like
3. (verb)assail to attack morally, or with a view to produce changes in the feelings, character, conduct, existing usages, institutions; to attack by words, hostile influence, etc.; as, to assail one with appeals, arguments, abuse, ridicule, and the like
Definitions of assail 
Afrikaans: oorval
Arabic: يُهاجِم بِعُنْف، يُزْعِج 
Bulgarian: нападам
Brazilian: assaltar
Czech: (za)útočit na, napadnout
German: bestürmen
Danish: overfalde; angribe; plage
Greek: βομβαρδίζω (μτφ.), επιτίθ
Spanish: asaltar
Estonian: kimbutama
Farsi: حمله کردن؛ هجوم بردن
Finnish: hyökätä
French: accabler (de)
Hebrew: לְהַתְקִיף
Hindi: बौछार होना
Croatian: napasti
Hungarian: megrohan
Indonesian: menyerang
Icelandic: ráðast á; kvelja, hrjá
Italian: assalire
Japanese: 攻める
Korean: 공격하다
Lithuanian: (už)pulti, užversti, kamu
Latvian: uzbrukt
Malay: menyerang
Dutch: bestormen
Norwegian: overfalle, angripe, plage
Polish: męczyć, atakować
Persian: حمله کردن؛ هجوم بردن
Pashto: یرغل کول
Portuguese: assaltar
Romanian: a asalta
Russian: одолевать; нападать
Slovak: prepadnúť
Slovenian: napasti
Serbian: spopasti
Swedish: angripa, ansätta
Thai: โจมตี; ก่อกวน
Turkish: şiddetle saldırmak
Taiwanese: 攻擊，使人困擾
Ukrainian: нападати, атакувати
Urdu: حملہ کرنا
Vietnamese: tấn công
Chinese: 攻击，使苦恼
