assault

English

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for assault in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

Etymology

From Old French noun assaut, from the verb asaillir, from Latin assiliō, from ad (“towards”) + saliō (“to jump”). See also assail. Spelling Latinized around 1530 to add an l.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /əˈsɔːlt/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Noun

assault (countable and uncountable, plural assaults)

  1. A violent onset or attack with physical means, for example blows, weapons, etc.
    to make assault upon a man, a house, or a town
    • Prescott
      The Spanish general prepared to renew the assault.
    • Shakespeare
      Unshaken bears the assault / Of their most dreaded foe, the strong southwest.
  2. A violent onset or attack with moral weapons, for example words, arguments, appeals, and the like
    to make an assault on the prerogatives of a prince, or on the constitution of a government
  3. (criminal law) An attempt to commit battery: a violent attempt, or willful effort with force or violence, to do hurt to another, but without necessarily touching his person, as by lifting a fist in a threatening manner, or by striking at him and missing him.
  4. (singular only, law) The crime whose action is such an attempt.
  5. (tort law) An act that causes someone to apprehend imminent bodily harm.
  6. (singular only, law) The tort whose action is such an act.
  7. (fencing) A non-competitive combat between two fencers.

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Translations

Verb

assault (third-person singular simple present assaults, present participle assaulting, simple past and past participle assaulted)

  1. To attack, threaten or harass.

Translations

Middle French

Noun

assault m (plural assauls)

  1. (chiefly military) assault; attack
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