assault
Americannoun
-
assaults
plural
-
a sudden, violent attack; onslaught.
an assault on tradition.
- Synonyms:
- aggression, invasion, charge, onset
-
Law. an unlawful physical attack upon another; an attempt or offer to do violence to another, with or without battery, as by holding a stone or club in a threatening manner.
-
Military. the stage of close combat in an attack.
-
rape.
verb (used with object)
-
assaults,
present (3rd person singular)
-
assaulted,
past participle, past
-
assaulting
present participle
noun
-
a violent attack, either physical or verbal
-
law an intentional or reckless act that causes another person to expect to be subjected to immediate and unlawful violence Compare battery assault and battery
-
-
the culmination of a military attack, in which fighting takes place at close quarters
-
( as modifier )
assault troops
-
-
rape or attempted rape
verb
-
to make an assault upon
-
to rape or attempt to rape
Synonym Usage
See attack.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
assaulternoun
-
nonassaultnoun
-
counterassaultverb (used with object)
-
assaultableadjective
-
assaultiveadjective
-
unassaultableadjective
-
unassaultedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
assaultsimple
-
assaultssimple
-
have assaultedperfect
-
has assaultedperfect
-
am assaultingprogressive
-
are assaultingprogressive
-
is assaultingprogressive
-
have been assaultingperfect progressive
-
has been assaultingperfect progressive
Past
-
assaultedsimple
-
had assaultedperfect
-
was assaultingprogressive
-
were assaultingprogressive
-
had been assaultingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of assault
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English asaut, from Old French, from Medieval Latin assaltus “attacked,” past participle of assalīre “to attack, jump on,” replacing Latin assilīre, both ultimately from Latin as- as- + salīre “to jump, leap”
Explanation
An assault is an attack. Getting punched, yelled at, or bombed are all types of assault. To assault is to attack or bombard someone in some way. Fighter planes can make an aerial assault, while ground troops make a ground assault. Verbal assault consists of insults, swearing, or threats. A strong criticism, like a negative review in the newspaper, is a written assault. Physical assault can range from getting pushed to getting shot. You could even say "That music is so loud it's assaulting my ear drums!"
Vocabulary lists containing assault
Hoot
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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.
See Examples For:
Actor Noel Clarke has pleaded not guilty to sexual offences including sexual assault, voyeurism and exposure.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026
Ahead of a fresh assault on the 24-hour record, Damien will next take on the one- hour, unweighted challenge.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026
Strong’s post also addressed the timing of the monologue given the recent high-profile sexual assault case at Cornell University.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev summoned the Russian ambassador over the incident, the second such assault on commercial shipping in the area in a week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
It was an answer to the question, but it came out as though he were warding off a nightmare or a blow, as though even the idea was an assault, and he couldn’t bear it.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Dan Schorr, a former sex crimes prosecutor, told the BBC that New York law still protects victims of assaults who have chosen to drink or take drugs.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
They said “conspiracies to impede federal law enforcement and assaults on federal officers are against the law.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
The Navier-Stokes problem, which deals with complex fluid dynamics, had withstood the assaults of mathematicians for almost two centuries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
The Baltics have also hardened themselves against certain types of assaults, she said, like a major 2007 Russian cyberattack on Estonia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
We proceeded along the street, marching warily to avoid the assaults of guile unmoved by the fear of bombardment; the shops and warehouses to either side of us were evidently deserted.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
The thing is, by the time we’re assaulted by all that, we understand that Pamela has had it, too.
From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2026
A French mayor was assaulted and a Belgian vehicle was damaged, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
The following day, a 72-year-old Fresno resident shot and wounded an ICE agent whom police said had fallen asleep on the resident’s daughter’s front lawn, appeared “intoxicated and agitated” and allegedly assaulted the resident.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
"As a result, the jury's unanimous verdict that Donald Trump sexually assaulted and then defamed E. Jean Carroll is now final and cannot be challenged in any court," she added.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
He had been bitten, cut, gone without rest, had assaulted the Cliffs of Insanity, had saved and taken lives.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
US actress Selma Blair has spoken out after being accused of assaulting multiple people on a flight travelling to New York.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
Under Essayli, federal prosecutors in L.A. have aggressively charged protesters with assaulting and impeding the actions of immigration agents, filing more than 100 cases.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
The man hailed a hero for tackling one of the gunmen who killed 15 people at Bondi Beach has pleaded not guilty to allegedly assaulting his father, a Sydney court has heard.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
The Justice Department has opened an investigation into writer E. Jean Carroll, who accused President Trump of sexually assaulting her 30 years ago, people familiar with the probe said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
The fields—wherever they were, whatever they were—had gone darker, the grass yellowing under their feet, the rides rusting, the candy apples moldering, the smell of rot and wet and damp assaulting her nostrils.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
