Meanings
present singular third person assails · participle present assailing · participle past assailed · past assailed
- figurativelysometimestransitiveTo attack with harsh words or violent force.
Muggers assailed them as they entered an alley.
5 more examples
Our ears were assailed by her joyous efforts on her new saxophone.
With greedy force he gan the fort assayle, / Whereof he weend possesse soone to bee, / And win rich spoile of ransackt chastitee.
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC[L]et us once again assail your ears, / That are so fortified against our story, / What we two nights have seen.
c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]"Unhappy woman!" he observed to himself as he walked down the platform of Templecombe station; "for the next six months or so those children will assail her in public with demands for an improper story!"
1914, Saki [pseudonym; Hector Hugh Munro], “The Story-teller”, in Beasts and Super-Beasts […], London: John Lane, The Bodley Head […], →OCLC, page 2382007, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Wizard of the Crow, Nairobo: East African Educational Publishers, Book 2, Chapter 3, p. 64, He did not like being in crowds, foul smells galore assailing his nostrils.
- figurativelytransitiveTo overcome or successfully argue against; defeat.
We got married immediately after I finished my work […] which should have been the happiest day of my life. […] But, it was not my happiest day. I was assailed by doubts.
1942, Zora Neale Hurston, chapter 14, in Dust Tracks on a Road, New York, N.Y.: Arno Press and The New York Times, published 1969, page 2581 more example
"Yes," he said, half musing to himself, "I knew it must exist: the one explanation that accounts for everything and cannot be assailed. We have reached the bed-rock of truth at last."
1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
verblaunch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinad“at, towards”
- Late Latinassalīre
- Old Frenchassaillir, assalir
- Middle Englishassailen
- Englishassail
From Middle English assailen, from Old French assaillir, assalir, from Late Latin assalīre, from Latin ad (“at, towards”) + salīre (“jump”). See also assault.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian нападам, нахвърлям се
- нападам (napadam)to attack violently
- нахвърлям се (nahvărljam se)to attack violently
Chinese Mandarin 攻擊 /攻击
- 攻擊 /攻击 (gōngjí)to attack violently
Czech napadnout, napadat
- napadnoutto attack violently
- napadatto attack violently
- zaútočitto attack violently
Finnish käydä kimppuun
- käydä kimppuunto attack violently
French assaillir
- assaillirto attack violently
German angreifen
- angreifento attack violently
Hungarian megtámad, megrohan
- megtámadto attack violently
- megrohanto attack violently
Italian assalire
- assalireto attack violently
Japanese 襲撃する
- 襲撃する (shūgeki suru)to attack violently
Latin īnstō, incessō
- īnstōto attack violently
- incessōto attack violently
Māori uruhi, auta
- uruhito attack violently
- autato attack violently
- whakatorotoroto attack violently
Portuguese investir
- investirto attack violently
Russian напада́ть, напа́сть
- напада́ть (napadátʹ)to attack violently
- напа́сть (napástʹ)to attack violently
Spanish atacar, asaltar
- atacarto attack violently
- asaltarto attack violently
- aturdirto attack violently
Turkish saldırmak, taarruz etmek
- saldırmakto attack violently
- taarruz etmekto attack violently
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with assail
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
assail. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/assail
“assail.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/assail. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “assail,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/assail.
Source: assail on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.