attack

American  

[uh-tak] / əˈtæk /

verb (used with object)

• attacks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• attacked,
  past participle,  past
• attacking
  present participle

1. to set upon in a forceful, violent, hostile, or aggressive way, with or without a weapon; begin fighting with.

   He attacked him with his bare hands.

   Synonyms:

   charge, storm

   Antonyms:

   defend

2. to begin hostilities against; start an offensive against.

   to attack the enemy.

3. to blame or abuse violently or bitterly.

4. to direct unfavorable criticism against; criticize severely; argue with strongly.

   He attacked his opponent's statement.

   Synonyms:

   abuse, oppugn, impugn, censure

   Antonyms:

   defend

5. to try to destroy, especially with verbal abuse.

   to attack the mayor's reputation.

6. to set about (a task) or go to work on (a thing) vigorously.

   to attack housecleaning;

   to attack the hamburger hungrily.

7. (of disease, destructive agencies, etc.) to begin to affect.

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verb (used without object)

• attacks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• attacked,
  past participle,  past
• attacking
  present participle

1. to make an attack; begin hostilities.

noun

• attacks
  plural

1. the act of attacking; onslaught; assault.

   Synonyms:

   encounter, onset

   Antonyms:

   defense

2. a military offensive against an enemy or enemy position.

3. Pathology. seizure by disease or illness.

   an attack of indigestion.

4. the beginning or initiating of any action; onset.

5. an aggressive move in a performance or contest.

6. the approach or manner of approach in beginning a musical phrase.

attack British  

/ əˈtæk /

verb

1. to launch a physical assault (against) with or without weapons; begin hostilities (with)

2. (intr) to take the initiative in a game, sport, etc

   after a few minutes, the team began to attack

3. (tr) to direct hostile words or writings at; criticize or abuse vehemently

4. (tr) to turn one's mind or energies vigorously to (a job, problem, etc)

5. (tr) to begin to injure or affect adversely; corrode, corrupt, or infect

   rust attacked the metal

6. (tr) to attempt to rape

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noun

1. the act or an instance of attacking

2. strong criticism or abuse

   an unjustified attack on someone's reputation

3. an offensive move in a game, sport, etc

4. commencement of a task, etc

5. any sudden and usually severe manifestation of a disease or disorder

   a heart attack

   an attack of indigestion

6. ball games the players in a team whose main role is to attack the opponents' goal or territory

7. music decisiveness in beginning a passage, movement, or piece

8. music the speed with which a note reaches its maximum volume

9. an attempted rape

Usage

What is a basic definition of attack? Attack means to attempt to inflict harm with physical violence, to attempt to inflict harm with words, or to initiate a military offensive against another. Attack has many other senses as a verb and a noun. Attack means to engage in physical violence against something with the intent to cause physical harm, damage, or death. Attacking doesn’t have to result in harm, however. For example, a person may be attacked by bees but manage to escape before actually getting stung. Someone or something that attacks is an attacker.

• Real-life examples: A lion will attack with its claws and teeth. In the past, soldiers would attack each other with swords, axes, and other weapons. A scared person may attack a lamp thinking it is a burglar.
• Used in a sentence: Ashley relentlessly attacked the piñata with a broom handle.

Attack can also mean to try to harm someone verbally. In this sense, attack means to assault someone with criticism, insults, or harsh comments. The attempted harm would be to a person’s feelings, opinions, or arguments.

• Real-life examples: Politicians are often attacked by political opponents, critics, or even the media. Unfortunately, many people are often attacked by trolls and harassers on social media. Bad or unpopular ideas are often attacked for being impossible or foolish.
• Used in a sentence: The unpopular director was attacked on social media by fans of the movie franchise.

Attack is also used in both senses as a noun.

• Used in a sentence: I barely survived the alligator’s attack. The company president was outraged by the reporter’s attack on his integrity.

Attack can also mean to initiate acts of war or begin a military offensive. This sense can also be used as a noun.

• Real-life examples: Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. In 1863, General Robert E. Lee attacked the Union army at Gettysburg during the American Civil War. At the Battle of Thermopylae, almost 7,000 Greek soldiers attempted to resist the Persians’ attack.
• Used in a sentence: The United Nations was outraged by the country’s unprovoked attack of its neighbor.

Synonym Usage

Attack, assail, assault, molest all mean to set upon someone forcibly, with hostile or violent intent. Attack is the most general word and applies to a beginning of hostilities, especially those definitely planned: to attack from ambush. Assail implies vehement, sudden, and sometimes repeated attack: to assail with weapons or with gossip. Assault almost always implies bodily violence: to assault with intent to kill. To molest is to harass, to threaten, or to assault: He was safe, and where no one could molest him.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• attacker
  noun
• reattack
  verb
• attackable
  adjective
• attacking
  adjective
• nonattacking
  adjective
• postattack
  adjective
• proattack
  adjective
• unattackable
  adjective
• unattacked
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• attacks
  plural

Participles

• attacking
  present
• attacked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• attack
  simple
• attacks
  simple
• have attacked
  perfect
• has attacked
  perfect
• am attacking
  progressive
• are attacking
  progressive
• is attacking
  progressive
• have been attacking
  perfect progressive
• has been attacking
  perfect progressive

Past

• attacked
  simple
• had attacked
  perfect
• was attacking
  progressive
• were attacking
  progressive
• had been attacking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will attack
  simple
• will have attacked
  perfect
• will be attacking
  progressive
• will have been attacking
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of attack

First recorded in 1590–1600; earlier atta(c)que, from Middle French atta(c)quer, from Italian attaccare “to attack”; cf. attach

Explanation

When you attack, you charge or advance violently. It's scary to watch a big dog attack a smaller dog. In the military, an attack is an advance of troops or the use of armed force against an enemy. When one little kid attacks another, there usually aren't any bombs or weapons involved, but the idea of force or hostility is the same. You might also attack an opponent in a game, or withstand a verbal attack from a classmate during a debate. The Italian source of attack is attacco, "an attack," from attaccare, "join battle."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

attack attacks attacked attacking

The United States for years refused contact with Hamas, which it classifies as a terrorist organisation and which led the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

Iranian state media detailed the attack earlier in the war, saying the jets flew at extremely low altitude to avoid defenses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

According to her father, Charles Dunn, Knowings died Tuesday in Long Beach after she suffered a severe asthma attack on Aug. 7 and went into cardiac arrest.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026

The attack took place before XL Bullies were added to the banned dog list.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

This attack did Burr’s public reputation no favors.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

Telegram channels -- sifting through intelligence data -- close the information gap, putting out daily forecasts on the probability of different types of attacks.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the attacks, saying the seven civilians killed were not "military infrastructure".

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

Meanwhile, high oil prices and attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea have made the traditional routes costlier and more dangerous.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

"These incidents have disrupted surveillance, case investigation, contact tracing, treatment and community engagements showing how attacks can undermine not only health services, but also the capacity to detect and contain outbreaks," said Musani.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

I’ve even had two panic attacks, but those are…awful.

From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell

In July, a fishing influencer almost lost his leg after being attacked by a reef shark whilst spearfishing.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

She also attacked Raman’s performance as the chair of the Housing and Homelessness Committee.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

Cakrani, Shehu’s lawyer, said Shehu was attacked by pro-communist gangs for his anticommunist views.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

It is not clear what caused the explosions, or whether the ship was attacked.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

To support Austria in its conflict with Russia over Serbia, Germany had attacked France by invading Belgium.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

When the model replied that “believing harder” wasn’t a viable strategy for attacking the Riemann hypothesis, Sumner intervened: “You need to believe in yourself.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

After a few weeks, Iran, objecting to U.S. efforts to guide ships through the waterway, went back to attacking vessels.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

Pras: The England right-back offers attacking threat and a realistic path to regular minutes while Jurrien Timber remains out.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

With 11 attacking returns last season he's likely to be their talisman once again.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

But reminding himself of this did nothing to still the voices attacking him, not the ones on the phone and not the ones in his head.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Related Words

• ambush
• assail
• assault
• beat
• besiege
• blast
• bombard
• charge
• harm
• hit
• hurt
• infiltrate
• invade
• raid
• stab
• storm
• strike