Meanings
nounassault (countable and uncountable, plural assaults)
plural assaults
- countableuncountableA violent onset or attack with physical means, for example blows, weapons, etc.
The army made an assault on the enemy.
3 more examples
The Spanish general prepared to renew the assault.
1855–1858, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLCUnshaken bears the assault / Of their most dreaded foe, the strong southwest.
1814, William Wordsworth, The Excursion, Book 5Hostilities peaked with the Skyllian Blitz of 2176, an attack on the human capital of Elysium by batarian-funded pirates and slavers. In 2178, the Alliance retaliated with a crushing assault on the moon of Torfan, long used as a staging base by batarian-backed criminals. In the aftermath, the batarians retreated into their own systems, and are now rarely seen in Citadel space.
2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Batarians Codex entry - countableuncountableA violent verbal attack, for example with insults, criticism, and the like
She launched a written assault on the opposition party.
- countablesingularsingular onlyuncountablelawThe crime whose action is such an attempt.
- countableuncountableAn act that causes someone to apprehend imminent bodily harm (such as brandishing a weapon).
- countablesingularsingular onlyuncountablelawThe tort whose action is such an act.
- countableuncountablefencingA non-competitive combat between two fencers.
verbassault (third-person singular simple present assaults, present participle assaulting, simple past and past participle assaulted)
present singular third person assaults · participle present assaulting · participle past assaulted · past assaulted
Synonyms & antonyms
Narrower
nounthe crime of forcing a person to submit to sexual intercourse against his or her will
Similar
verbforce (someone) to have sex against their will
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinad“at, towards”
- Late Latinassalīre
- Middle Englishassaut
- Englishassault
From Middle English assaut, from Old French noun assaut, derived from the past participle of the verb assalir, from Late Latin assalīre, from Latin ad (“at, towards”) + salīre (“jump”). See also assail. Spelling Latinized around 1530 to add an l.
More words from Middle English, Late Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ὁρμή, προσβολή
- ὁρμή (hormḗ)violent onset or attack with physical means
- προσβολή (prosbolḗ)violent onset or attack with physical means
Arabic اِعْتِدَاء, حَمْلَة
- اِعْتِدَاء (iʕtidāʔ)violent onset or attack with physical means
- حَمْلَة (ḥamla)violent onset or attack with physical means
- هُجُوم (hujūm)violent onset or attack with physical means
- هَجْمَة (hajma)violent onset or attack with physical means
Bengali আক্রমণ
- আক্রমণ (akromon)violent onset or attack with physical means
Bulgarian ата́ка, нападе́ние
- ата́ка (atáka)violent onset or attack with physical means
- нападе́ние (napadénie)violent onset or attack with physical means
- щурм (šturm)violent onset or attack with physical means
- атакувам (atakuvam)to attack
- щурмувам (šturmuvam)to attack
Catalan assalt
- assaltviolent onset or attack with physical means
Chinese Mandarin 突擊 /突击, 攻擊 /攻击
- 突擊 /突击 (tújí)violent onset or attack with physical means
- 攻擊 /攻击 (gōngjī, gōngjí)violent onset or attack with physical means
- 攻擊 /攻击 (gōngjī, gōngjí)to attack
Czech útok, přepadení
- útokviolent onset or attack with physical means
- přepadeníviolent onset or attack with physical means
- napadeníviolent onset or attack with physical means
Danish overfald, angreb
- overfaldviolent onset or attack with physical means
- angrebviolent onset or attack with physical means
Dutch aanranding, overval
- aanrandingviolent onset or attack with physical means
- overvalviolent onset or attack with physical means
- aanvalviolent onset or attack with physical means
- aanrandento attack
- vergrijpento attack
Esperanto atenci
- atenciviolent onset or attack with physical means
Estonian kallaletung, rünnak
- kallaletungviolent onset or attack with physical means
- rünnakviolent onset or attack with physical means
Finnish hyökkäys, päällekarkaus
- hyökkäysviolent onset or attack with physical means
- päällekarkausviolent onset or attack with physical means
- hyökkäysviolent onset or attack with moral weapons
- pahoinpitelyn yrityslegal: violent attempt, or willful effort with force or violence to hurt another
- pahoinpitelyn yrityslegal: crime whose action is such an attempt
- pahoinpitelylegal: act that causes someone to apprehend imminent bodily harm
- pahoinpitelylegal: tort whose action is such an act
- hyökätäto attack
- käydä päälleto attack
- käydä kimppuunto attack
French assaut, agression
- assautviolent onset or attack with physical means
- agressionviolent onset or attack with physical means
- attaquerto attack
- agresserto attack
German Anschlag, Überfall
- Anschlagviolent onset or attack with physical means
- Überfallviolent onset or attack with physical means
- Angriffviolent onset or attack with physical means
- überfallento attack
- angreifento attack
Greek προσβολή
- προσβολή (prosvolí)violent onset or attack with physical means
Hebrew תְּקִיפָה
- תְּקִיפָה (t'kifá)violent onset or attack with physical means
Hindi आक्रमण, प्रहार
- आक्रमण (ākramaṇ)violent onset or attack with physical means
- प्रहार (prahār)violent onset or attack with physical means
- धावा (dhāvā)violent onset or attack with physical means
- आक्रमण (ākramaṇ)to attack
Hungarian támadás, roham
- támadásviolent onset or attack with physical means
- rohamviolent onset or attack with physical means
- ostromviolent onset or attack with physical means
- megtámadto attack
- megrohamozto attack
- ostromolto attack
- megostromolto attack
Icelandic áhlaup
- áhlaupviolent onset or attack with physical means
Italian assalto, attacco
- assaltoviolent onset or attack with physical means
- attaccoviolent onset or attack with physical means
- aggressioneviolent onset or attack with physical means
- arrembaggioviolent onset or attack with physical means
- all'arrembaggioviolent onset or attack with physical means
- aggressionelegal: violent attempt, or willful effort with force or violence to hurt another
- aggressionelegal: crime whose action is such an attempt
- attaccareto attack
- aggredireto attack
- assalireto attack
- molestareto attack
Japanese 襲撃, 突撃
- 襲撃 (shūgeki)violent onset or attack with physical means
- 突撃 (totsugeki)violent onset or attack with physical means
- 攻撃 (kōgeki)violent onset or attack with physical means
- 暴行 (bōkō)violent onset or attack with physical means
- 暴行 (bōkō)legal: violent attempt, or willful effort with force or violence to hurt another
- 暴行 (bōkō)legal: crime whose action is such an attempt
- 襲う (osou)to attack
- 攻める (semeru)to attack
- 襲撃する (shūgeki suru)to attack
Korean 돌격, 공격
- 돌격 (dolgyeok)violent onset or attack with physical means
- 공격 (gonggyeok)violent onset or attack with physical means
- 폭행 (pokhaeng)violent onset or attack with physical means
- 폭행 (pokhaeng)legal: violent attempt, or willful effort with force or violence to hurt another
Latin impetus, assultus
- impetusviolent onset or attack with physical means
- assultusviolent onset or attack with physical means
- assultōto attack
- incessōto attack
Latvian uzbrukums, trieciens
- uzbrukumsviolent onset or attack with physical means
- trieciensviolent onset or attack with physical means
Lithuanian užpuolimas
- užpuolimasviolent onset or attack with physical means
Māori taiapu, haupatu
- taiaputo attack
- haupatuto attack
Norwegian Bokmål overfall, angrep
- overfallviolent onset or attack with physical means
- angrepviolent onset or attack with physical means
Polish napaść, szturm
- napaśćviolent onset or attack with physical means
- szturmviolent onset or attack with physical means
- napadaćto attack
- napaśćto attack
Portuguese agressão, ataque
- agressãoviolent onset or attack with physical means
- ataqueviolent onset or attack with physical means
- assaltoviolent onset or attack with physical means
- agressãoviolent onset or attack with moral weapons
- ataqueviolent onset or attack with moral weapons
- agressãolegal: violent attempt, or willful effort with force or violence to hurt another
- agressãolegal: crime whose action is such an attempt
- assaltofencing: non-competitive combat
- agredirto attack
Romanian asalt, atac
- asaltviolent onset or attack with physical means
- atacviolent onset or attack with physical means
Russian нападе́ние, ата́ка
- нападе́ние (napadénije)violent onset or attack with physical means
- ата́ка (atáka)violent onset or attack with physical means
- штурм (šturm)violent onset or attack with physical means
- напада́ть (napadátʹ)to attack
- напа́сть (napástʹ)to attack
- атакова́ть (atakovátʹ)to attack
- штурмова́ть (šturmovátʹ)to attack
Slovak útok, prepadnutie
- útokviolent onset or attack with physical means
- prepadnutieviolent onset or attack with physical means
- napadnutieviolent onset or attack with physical means
Spanish asalto, acometimiento
- asaltoviolent onset or attack with physical means
- acometimientoviolent onset or attack with physical means
- agresiónviolent onset or attack with physical means
- ataqueviolent onset or attack with physical means
- asaltarto attack
- atacarto attack
- agredirto attack
Swedish överfall, angrepp
- överfallviolent onset or attack with physical means
- angreppviolent onset or attack with physical means
- attackviolent onset or attack with physical means
Tagalog pagsalakay, panlalaban
- pagsalakayviolent onset or attack with physical means
- panlalabanviolent onset or attack with physical means
Tamil தாக்குதல், தாக்கு
- தாக்குதல் (tākkutal)violent onset or attack with physical means
- தாக்கு (tākku)to attack
Turkish saldırı
- saldırıviolent onset or attack with physical means
Ukrainian на́пад, штурм
- на́пад (nápad)violent onset or attack with physical means
- штурм (šturm)violent onset or attack with physical means
Urdu حَمْلَہ, یُورِش
- حَمْلَہ (hamla)violent onset or attack with physical means
- یُورِش (yūriś)violent onset or attack with physical means
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with assault
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
assault. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/assault
MLA
“assault.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/assault. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “assault,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/assault.
Source: assault on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.