Definitions for attack
əˈtækat·tack

Princeton's WordNet(1.33 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. attack, onslaught, onset, onrush(noun)

   (military) an offensive against an enemy (using weapons)

   "the attack began at dawn"

2. attack(noun)

   an offensive move in a sport or game

   "they won the game with a 10-hit attack in the 9th inning"

3. fire, attack, flak, flack, blast(noun)

   intense adverse criticism

   "Clinton directed his fire at the Republican Party"; "the government has come under attack"; "don't give me any flak"

4. approach, attack, plan of attack(noun)

   ideas or actions intended to deal with a problem or situation

   "his approach to every problem is to draw up a list of pros and cons"; "an attack on inflation"; "his plan of attack was misguided"

5. attack, attempt(noun)

   the act of attacking

   "attacks on women increased last year"; "they made an attempt on his life"

6. attack, tone-beginning(noun)

   a decisive manner of beginning a musical tone or phrase

7. attack(noun)

   a sudden occurrence of an uncontrollable condition

   "an attack of diarrhea"

8. attack(noun)

   the onset of a corrosive or destructive process (as by a chemical agent)

   "the film was sensitive to attack by acids"; "open to attack by the elements"

9. attack(verb)

   strong criticism

   "he published an unexpected attack on my work"

10. attack, assail(verb)

    launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with

    "Hitler attacked Poland on September 1, 1939 and started World War II"; "Serbian forces assailed Bosnian towns all week"

11. attack, round, assail, lash out, snipe, assault(verb)

    attack in speech or writing

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

12. attack, aggress(verb)

    take the initiative and go on the offensive

    "The Serbs attacked the village at night"; "The visiting team started to attack"

13. assail, assault, set on, attack(verb)

    attack someone physically or emotionally

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

14. attack(verb)

    set to work upon; turn one's energies vigorously to a task

    "I attacked the problem as soon as I got out of bed"

15. attack(verb)

    begin to injure

    "The cancer cells are attacking his liver"; "Rust is attacking the metal"

Wiktionary(3.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. attack(Noun)

   An attempt to cause damage or injury to, or to somehow detract from the worth or credibility of, a person, position, idea, object, or thing, by physical, verbal, emotional, or other assault.

   They claimed the censorship of the article was an attack of free speech.

2. attack(Noun)

   A time in which one attacks. The offence of a battle.

   The army timed their attack to coincide with the local celebrations.

3. attack(Noun)

   Collectively, the bowlers of a cricket side.

4. attack(Noun)

   Any contact with the ball other than a serve or block which sends the ball across the plane of the net.

5. attack(Noun)

   The three attackmen on the field or all the attackmen of a team.

6. attack(Noun)

   The sudden onset of a disease.

   Iu00B4ve had an attack of the flu.

7. attack(Noun)

   An active episode of a chronic or recurrent disease.

8. attack(Noun)

   The amount of time it takes 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).

9. attack(Verb)

   To apply violent force to someone or something.

   This species of snake will only attack humans if it feels threatened.

10. attack(Verb)

    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.

11. attack(Verb)

    To deal with something undesirable in a direct way.

    Weu00B4ll have dinner before we attack the biology homework.

12. attack(Verb)

    To aim balls at the batsman's wicket.

13. attack(Verb)

    To set a field, or bowl in a manner designed to get wickets.

14. attack(Verb)

    To bat aggressively, so as to score runs quickly.

15. attack(Verb)

    To move forward in an attempt to actively score point, as opposed to trying not to concede.

Origin: From attaque, derived from the verb attaquer, from attaccare used in attaccare battaglia, "to join battle". Cognate with Italian attacca and German Attacke.

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

1. Attack(verb)

   to fall upon with force; to assail, as with force and arms; to assault

2. Attack(verb)

   to assail with unfriendly speech or writing; to begin a controversy with; to attempt to overthrow or bring into disrepute, by criticism or satire; to censure; as, to attack a man, or his opinions, in a pamphlet

3. Attack(verb)

   to set to work upon, as upon a task or problem, or some object of labor or investigation

4. Attack(verb)

   to begin to affect; to begin to act upon, injuriously or destructively; to begin to decompose or waste

5. Attack(verb)

   to make an onset or attack

6. Attack(noun)

   the act of attacking, or falling on with force or violence; an onset; an assault; -- opposed to defense

7. Attack(noun)

   an assault upon one's feelings or reputation with unfriendly or bitter words

8. Attack(noun)

   a setting to work upon some task, etc

9. Attack(noun)

   an access of disease; a fit of sickness

10. Attack(noun)

    the beginning of corrosive, decomposing, or destructive action, by a chemical agent

Origin: [Cf. F. attaque.]

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

1. Attack

   at-tak′, v.t. to fall upon violently: to assault: to assail with unfriendly words or writing: to begin to affect, fall upon (of diseases).—n. an assault or onset: the offensive part in any contest: the beginning of active operations on anything, even dinner: severe criticism or calumny.—adj. Attack′able. [Fr. attaquer. See Attach, of which it is a doublet.]

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

1. attack

   A general assault or onset upon an enemy. Also the arrangement for investment or battle. (See FALSE ATTACK.)

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

1. attack

   Any general assault or onset that is given to gain a post or break a body of troops. False attack, a feigned or secondary movement in the arrangements of an assault, intended to divert the attention of an enemy from the real or principal attack. Such a movement has been sometimes converted into a real attack, and succeeded when the main assault, to which it was intended to be subsidiary, had failed. Attack of a siege is a furious attack made by the besiegers by means of trenches, galleries, saps, breaches, or mines, etc., by storming any part of the front attack. To attack in front or flank, in fortifications, means to attack the salient angle, or both sides of the bastion.

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'attack' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1322

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'attack' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2288

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'attack' in Nouns Frequency: #407

4. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'attack' in Verbs Frequency: #349

How to pronounce attack?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say attack in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of attack in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of attack in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of attack in a Sentence

1. Francois Delahaye:

   It's a tax attack.

2. Naftali Bennett:

   Attack me as much as you want.

3. Owner Mai Ozeki:

   I'm almost having a heart attack.

4. President Trump:

   It looks like another terrorist attack.

5. Richard Lutz:

   We are now on the attack and rebuilding.

Images & Illustrations of attack

Popularity rank by frequency of use