attack (n.)

  1. (military) an offensive against an enemy (using weapons); the attack began at dawn

    [ Syn: onslaught , onset , onrush ]

  2. an offensive move in a sport or game; they won the game with a 10-hit attack in the 9th inning'

  3. intense adverse criticism; Clinton directed his fire at the Republican Party; the government has come under attack; dont give me any flak

    [ Syn: fire , flak , flack , blast ]

  4. ideas or actions intended to deal with a problem or situation; his approach to every problem is to draw up a list of pros and cons; an attack on inflation; his plan of attack was misguided

    [ Syn: approach , plan of attack ]

  5. the act of attacking; attacks on women increased last year; they made an attempt on his life

    [ Syn: attempt ]

  6. a decisive manner of beginning a musical tone or phrase

    [ Syn: tone-beginning ]

  7. a sudden occurrence of an uncontrollable condition; an attack of diarrhea'

  8. the onset of a corrosive or destructive process (as by a chemical agent); the film was sensitive to attack by acids; open to attack by the elements'

  9. strong criticism; he published an unexpected attack on my work'

    attack (v.)

  1. launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with; Hitler attacked Poland on September 1, 1939 and started World War II; Serbian forces assailed Bosnian towns all week

    [ Syn: assail ]

  2. attack in speech or writing; The editors of the left-leaning paper attacked the new House Speaker

    [ Syn: round , assail , lash out , snipe , assault ]

  3. take the initiative and go on the offensive; The Serbs attacked the village at night; The visiting team started to attack

    [ Syn: aggress ]

  4. attack someone physically or emotionally; The mugger assaulted the woman; Nightmares assailed him regularly

    [ Syn: assail , assault , set on ]

  5. set to work upon; turn one's energies vigorously to a task; I attacked the problem as soon as I got out of bed'

  6. begin to injure; The cancer cells are attacking his liver; Rust is attacking the metal'

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2011 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.