1 definition found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Attack \At*tack"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Attacked}; p. pr & vb
n. {Attacking}.] [F. attaquer orig. another form of attacher
to attack: cf It attacare to fasten, attack. See {Attach},
{Tack} a small nail.]
1. To fall upon with force; to assail, as with force and
arms; to assault. ``Attack their lines.'' --Dryden.
2. To assail with unfriendly speech or writing; to begin a
controversy with to attempt to overthrow or bring into
disrepute, by criticism or satire; to censure; as to
attack a man, or his opinions, in a pamphlet.
3. To set to work upon as upon a task or problem, or some
object of labor or investigation.
4. To begin to affect; to begin to act upon injuriously or
destructively; to begin to decompose or waste.
On the fourth of March he was attacked by fever.
--Macaulay.
Hydrofluoric acid . . . attacks the glass. --B.
Stewart.
Syn: To {Attack}, {Assail}, {Assault}, {Invade}.
Usage: These words all denote a violent onset; attack being
the generic term, and the others specific forms of
attack. To attack is to commence the onset; to assail
is to make a sudden and violent attack, or to make
repeated attacks; to assault (literally, to leap upon)
is to attack physically by a had-to-hand approach or
by unlawful and insulting violence; to invade is to
enter by force on what belongs to another. Thus a
person may attack by offering violence of any kind he
may assail by means of missile weapons; he may assault
by direct personal violence; a king may invade by
marching an army into a country. Figuratively, we may
say men attack with argument or satire; they assail
with abuse or reproaches; they may be assaulted by
severe temptations; the rights of the people may be
invaded by the encroachments of the crown.
more about attacked
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