assailant
Americannoun
adjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of assailant
From the Middle French word assaillant, dating back to 1525–35. See assail, -ant
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The organization, which monitors jihadist groups, identified the assailant, who was shot dead by police, as Ndiaga Diagne, a US citizen of Senegalese origin.
From Barron's • Mar. 1, 2026
The assailant, identified as Anthony Kazmierczak, had the sort of online posting history that you would expect and had told a neighbor that he might be arrested at an upcoming Omar event.
From Slate • Jan. 31, 2026
A police captain, knowing Pratt painted and drew as a hobby, asked if he’d go interview a survivor of one of these attacks in the hospital and sketch the assailant, based on the woman’s description.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026
Initially, they claimed he was kidnapped after an assailant attacked Rebecca Haro.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 16, 2025
Both he and the men in the store had spent the entire day hunting for Emma Lee’s assailant in the brush and swamplands of the beach.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
