aggress

[uh-gres]

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verb (used without object)

to commit the first act of hostility or offense; attack first.

to begin to quarrel.

verb (used with object)

to behave aggressively toward; attack (often followed by upon): wild animals aggressing their prey.

Origin of aggress

1565–75; < Latin aggressus (past participle of aggredī to attack), equivalent to ag- ag- + gred- (see grade) + -tus past participle suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for aggress

charge, fight, beset, assault, storm, strike, assail, quarrel

Examples from the Web for aggress

Contemporary Examples of aggress

They experience boredom, sickness, early deaths and they aggress, attacking and even killing human beings.
‘Blackfish’ Director: Killer Whales Don’t Belong in Captivity
Gabriela Cowperthwaite
October 24, 2013

Historical Examples of aggress

If the body do not aggress, the spirit will not seek revenge.
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 3, July, 1851
Various

British Dictionary definitions for aggress

aggress

verb

(intr) to attack first or begin a quarrel

Word Origin for aggress

C16: from Medieval Latin aggressāre to attack, from Latin aggredī to attack, approach

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for aggress

"attack," 1714, back-formation from aggression, but used earlier with a sense of "approach" (1570s) and in this sense from French aggresser, from Late Latin aggressare, frequentative of Latin aggredi "to approach, attack." Related: Aggressed; aggressing.