Meaning | launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare / warfare with. |
---|
Pattern | Somebody ----s something; Somebody ----s somebody |
---|
Example | "Serbian forces assailed Bosnian towns all week" |
---|
Synonym | attack |
---|
Narrower | besiege, beleaguer, surround, hem in, circumvent | Surround so as to force to give up |
---|
blitz | attack suddenly and without warning |
bombard, bomb | Throw bombs at or attack with bombs |
cannonade | attack with cannons or artillery |
counterattack, counterstrike | make a counterattack |
gas | attack with gas |
invade, occupy | march aggressively into another's territory by military force for the purposes of conquest and occupation |
pepper, pelt | attack and bombard with or as if with missiles |
raid, bust | Search without warning, make a sudden surprise attack on |
storm, surprise | attack by storm |
strafe | attack with machine guns or cannon fire from a low-flying plane |
strike, hit | make a strategic, offensive, assault against an enemy, opponent, or a target |
submarine | attack by submarine |
torpedo | attack or hit with torpedoes |
Broader | contend, fight, struggle | Be engaged in a fight |
---|
Opposite | defend | Be on the defensive |
---|
Similar to | attack, aggress | Take the initiative and go on the offensive |
---|
Spanish | agredir, asaltar, atacar |
---|
Catalan | agredir, assaltar, atacar |
---|
Adjectives | assailable | not defended or capable of being defended |
---|
Nouns | assailant | someone who attacks |
---|