Definitions for assault
əˈsɔltas·sault

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. assaultnoun

   close fighting during the culmination of a military attack

2. assaultnoun

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

3. Assaultnoun

   thoroughbred that won the triple crown in 1946

4. rape, violation, assault, ravishmentverb

   the crime of forcing a woman to submit to sexual intercourse against her will

5. assail, assault, set on, attackverb

   attack someone physically or emotionally

   "The mugger assaulted the woman"; "Nightmares assailed him regularly"

6. rape, ravish, violate, assault, dishonor, dishonour, outrageverb

   force (someone) to have sex against their will

   "The woman was raped on her way home at night"

7. attack, round, assail, lash out, snipe, assaultverb

   attack in speech or writing

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

Wiktionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. assaultnoun

   A violent onset or attack with physical means, as blows, weapons, etc.; an onslaught; the rush or charge of an attacking force; onset; as, to make assault upon a man, a house, or a town.

2. assaultnoun

   A violent onset or attack with moral weapons, as words, arguments, appeals, and the like; as, to make an assault on the prerogatives of a prince, or on the constitution of a government.

3. assaultnoun

   An attempt to commit battery: a violent attempt, or willful effort with force or violence, to do hurt to another, but without necessarily touching his person, as by lifting a fist in a threatening manner, or by striking at him and missing him.

4. assaultnoun

   The crime whose action is such an attempt.

5. assaultnoun

   An act that causes someone to apprehend imminent bodily harm.

6. assaultnoun

   The tort whose action is such an act.

7. assaultnoun

   A non-competitive combat between two fencers.

8. assaultverb

   To attack, threaten or harass.

9. Etymology: From noun asault, from the verb asaillir, from assilio, from ad + salio. See also assail.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. ASSAULTnoun

   Etymology: assault, French.

   1. Attack; hostile onset; opposed to defence.

   Her spirit had been invincible against all assaults of affection. William Shakespeare, Much ado about Nothing.

   Not to be shook thyself, but all assaults
   Baffling, like thy hoar cliffs the loud sea wave. James Thomson.

   2. Storm; opposed to sap or siege.

   Jason took at least a thousand men, and suddenly made an assault upon the city. 2 Macc. v. 5.

   After some days siege, he resolved to try the fortune of an assault; he succeeded therein so far, that he had taken the principal tower and fort. Francis Bacon, Henry VII.

   3. Violence.

   Themselves at discord fell,
   And cruel combat join’d in middle space,
   With horrible assault, and fury fell. Fairy Queen, b. ii.

   4. Invasion; hostility; attack.

   After some unhappy assaults upon the prerogative by the parliament, which produced its dissolution, there followed a composure. Edward Hyde.

   Theories built upon narrow foundations, are very hard to be supported against the assaults of opposition. John Locke.

   5. In law.A violent kind of injury offered to a man’s person. It may be committed by offering of a blow, or by a fearful speech. John Cowell6. It has upon before the thing assaulted.

2. To Assaultverb

   To attack; to invade; to fall upon with violence.

   Etymology: from the noun.

   The king granted the Jews to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy all the power that would assault them. Esth. viii. 11.

   Before the gates the cries of babes new-born,
   Whom fate had from their tender mothers torn,
   Assault his ears. John Dryden, Æneid vi.

   Curs’d steel, and more accursed gold,
   Gave mischief birth, and made that mischief bold:
   And double death did wretched man invade,
   By steel assaulted, and by gold betray’d. John Dryden, Ovid.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Assaultnoun

   a violent onset or attack with physical means, as blows, weapons, etc.; an onslaught; the rush or charge of an attacking force; onset; as, to make assault upon a man, a house, or a town

2. Assaultnoun

   a violent onset or attack with moral weapons, as words, arguments, appeals, and the like; as, to make an assault on the prerogatives of a prince, or on the constitution of a government

3. Assaultnoun

   an apparently violent attempt, or willful offer with force or violence, to do hurt to another; an attempt or offer to beat another, accompanied by a degree of violence, but without touching his person, as by lifting the fist, or a cane, in a threatening manner, or by striking at him, and missing him. If the blow aimed takes effect, it is a battery

4. Assaultnoun

   to make an assault upon, as by a sudden rush of armed men; to attack with unlawful or insulting physical violence or menaces

5. Assaultnoun

   to attack with moral means, or with a view of producing moral effects; to attack by words, arguments, or unfriendly measures; to assail; as, to assault a reputation or an administration

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Assault

   At Common Law, an intentional act by one person that creates an apprehension in another of an imminent harmful or offensive contact. An assault is carried out by a threat of bodily harm coupled with an apparent, present ability to cause the harm. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in either criminal or civil liability. Generally, the common law definition is the same in criminal and Tort Law. There is, however, an additional Criminal Law category of assault consisting of an attempted but unsuccessful Battery. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more limited sense of a threat of violence caused by an immediate show of force. Assault in some US jurisdictions and Scotland is defined more broadly still as any intentional physical contact with another person without their consent; but in the majority of the United States, and in England and Wales and all other common law jurisdictions in the world, this is defined instead as battery. Some jurisdictions have incorporated the definition of civil assault into the definition of the crime making it a criminal assault to intentionally cause another person to apprehend a harmful or offensive contact.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Assault

   as-sawlt′, n. a sudden attack: a storming, as of a town: (Eng. law) unlawful attempt to apply force to the person of another—when force is actually applied, the act amounts to battery: an attack of any sort by arguments, appeals, &c.—v.t. to make an assault or attack upon: (law) to make an assault.—n. Assault′er.—Assault at arms, a display of attack and defence in fencing. [O. Fr. asaut—L. ad, upon, saltus, a leap, salīre, to leap. See Assail.]

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. assault

   1. The climax of an attack, closing with the enemy in hand-to-hand fighting. 2. In an amphibious operation, the period of time between the arrival of the major assault forces of the amphibious task force in the objective area and the accomplishment of the amphibious task force mission. 3. To make a short, violent, but well-ordered attack against a local objective, such as a gun emplacement, a fort, or a machine gun nest. 4. A phase of an airborne operation beginning with delivery by air of the assault echelon of the force into the objective area and extending through attack of assault objectives and consolidation of the initial airhead. See also assault phase.

Dictionary of Nautical Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. assault

   A hostile attack. The effort to storm a place, and gain possession of a post by main force.

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. assault

   A furious but regulated effort to carry a fortified post, camp, or fortress by personal attack, uncovered and unsupported. While an assault during a siege continues, the batteries of the besiegers cease, lest the attacking party should be injured. The party which leads the assault is sometimes called “the forlorn hope.”

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. assault

   Song lyrics by assault -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by assault on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Attack
   • Criticize
   • Fight
   • Military
   • Thoroughbred

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'assault' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4158

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'assault' in Nouns Frequency: #1536

How to pronounce assault?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say assault in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of assault in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of assault in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of assault in a Sentence

1. Leslie Millwee:

   The first assault happened in the summer of 1980.

2. Alexander Marquardt:

   Associated Press crews had to walk this line of how close Associated Press crews get to actually witness events and do Associated Press crews job but also stay safe, associated Press crews were lucky to have gotten out of there without any sort of physical assault.

3. Thomas Gilliland:

   Information was obtained that a male was in the home and had a warrant for an aggravated assault on a family member.

4. Holly Dickson:

   What we're seeing in Arkansas is the most dangerous assault on the right to vote since the Jim Crow era, these bills don't just make it harder to vote, they also make it easier for partisan politicians to interfere with local election administrators -- something that could have disastrous consequences for democracy. These bills will make it harder for all voters -- of all political stripes -- to make their voices heard.

5. Embattled Democratic senator from Minnesota:

   There is some irony in the fact that I am leaving office while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office.

Popularity rank by frequency of use