Link Centre Dictionary

assault

as·sault

UK/əˈsɒlt/ US/əˈsɔːlt/ common
verb (3) noun (4)

verb

1.

attack someone physically or emotionally

  • “The mugger assaulted the woman”
  • “Nightmares assailed him regularly”
Synonyms
2.

force (someone) to have sex against their will

  • “The woman was raped on her way home at night”
Synonyms
3.

attack in speech or writing

  • “The editors of the left-leaning paper attacked the new House Speaker”
Synonyms

noun

1.
2.

a threatened or attempted physical attack by someone who appears to be able to cause bodily harm if not stopped

3.

thoroughbred that won the triple crown in 1946

4.

the crime of forcing a woman to submit to sexual intercourse against her will

Synonyms

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • sexually assault

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.