assail
Americanverb (used with object)
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to attack vigorously or violently; assault.
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to attack with arguments, criticism, ridicule, abuse, etc..
to assail one's opponent with slander.
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to undertake with the purpose of mastering.
He assailed his studies with new determination.
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to impinge upon; make an impact on; beset.
His mind was assailed by conflicting arguments.
The light assailed their eyes.
verb
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to attack violently; assault
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to criticize or ridicule vehemently, as in argument
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to beset or disturb
his mind was assailed by doubts
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to encounter with the intention of mastering
to assail a problem
to assail a difficult mountain ridge
Related Words
See attack.
Other Word Forms
- assailable adjective
- assailableness noun
- assailer noun
- assailment noun
- unassailed adjective
- unassailing adjective
Etymology
Origin of assail
1175–1225; Middle English asaylen < Old French asalir < Late Latin assalīre, equivalent to Latin as- as- + salīre to leap, spring
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.
Meanwhile, the document assails America’s friends across the Atlantic.
Mr. Means has assailed American agriculture firms and claimed pesticides and the Roundup weed-killer are increasing chronic illness.
Whenever ministers defend the status quo in the House of Commons, they are assailed on all sides by MPs calling for recognition.
From BBC
The mayor, appearing before reporters at City Hall, assailed federal agents for “randomly grabbing people” off the street, “chasing Angelenos through parking lots” and arresting immigrants who showed up at court for annual check-ins.
From Los Angeles Times
While Sheinbaum has assailed the U.S. immigration raids and backed immigrants’ rights to protest, there is no public record of her ever having backed violence.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
