attack

From 1906 to 1960, there were forty-six recorded shark attacks, half of which were fatal.

1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 161:

One particularly damaging, but often ignored, effect of conflict on education is the proliferation of attacks on schools[…]as children, teachers or school buildings become the targets of attacks. Parents fear sending their children to school. Girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence.

2013 July 19, Mark Tran, “Denied an education by war”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 1:

An attempt to cause damage, injury to, or death of an opponent or enemy.

Combat in Mimesis Online is nice and simple. You click on your target […] and then keep right-clicking your chosen attack from the drop down menu. Every time you right click on the attack, your character will swing, shoot, etc.

2002 March, Aaron Butler, “Mimesis Online (PC)”, in GameSpy.com, archived from the original on 2002-12-16:

Kleavor has several attacks that it's worth roughly memorising: a charge attack, where it runs at you quickly; a jump attack, that causes a pillar of rock to spike out from under the ground; and a spin attack that does damage in a circle around it.

2022 January 28, Chris Tapsell, “Pokémon Legends Arceus Kleavor boss fight: How to beat Kleavor”, in Eurogamer.ner:

(gaming) Any of several specific maneuvers, skills, or special abilities that a character can use to inflict damage against opponents.

“I came down like a wolf on the fold, didn’t I ? Why didn’t I telephone ? Strategy, my dear boy, strategy. This is a surprise attack, and I’d no wish that the garrison, forewarned, should escape. …”

1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad:

They claimed the censorship of the article was an attack on free speech.

An attempt to detract from the worth or credibility of, a person, position, idea, object, or thing, by physical, verbal, emotional, or other assault.

The army timed their attack to coincide with the local celebrations.

A time in which one attacks; the offence of a battle.

Having washed the plates from dinner, I made an attack on the laundry.

(informal, by extension) The beginning of active operations on anything.

birthday attack; denial-of-service attack

(computing) An attempt to exploit a vulnerability in a computer system.

(cricket) Collectively, the bowlers of a cricket side.

(volleyball) Any contact with the ball other than a serve or block which sends the ball across the plane of the net.

(lacrosse) The three attackmen on the field or all the attackmen of a team.

I've had an attack of the flu.

(medicine) The sudden onset of a disease or condition.

An active episode of a chronic or recurrent disease.

Eric Reed was a curious choice as pianist, since his busy Petersonian attack is the antithesis of Lewis's, but he acquitted himself with panache, […]

2004, Gary Giddins, Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century, page 322:

(music) The onset of a musical note, particularly with respect to the strength (and duration) of that onset.

(audio) The amount of time taken for the volume of an audio signal to go from zero to maximum level (e.g. an audio waveform representing a snare drum hit would feature a very fast attack, whereas that of a wave washing to shore would feature a slow attack).

(oenology) The initial sensory impact of a wine.

aanval

attempt to cause damage, injury, or death

aanval

volleyball: hit other than serve or block that sends the ball over the net

aloitus

amount of time it takes for the volume of an audio signal to go from zero to maximum level

Borrowed from French attaque, derived from the verb attaquer, from Italian attaccare (“to join, attach”) (used in attaccare battaglia (“to join battle”)), from Frankish *stakka (“stick”). Doublet of attach. Displaced native Old English on rǣsan (“to attack”) and onrǣs (“an attack”).


attack

This species of snake will only attack humans if it feels threatened.

Yesterday, December seventh, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

1941 December 8, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 0:00 from the start, in Day of Infamy Speech, Washington, D.C., page 1:

(transitive) To apply violent force to someone or something.

She published an article attacking the recent pay cuts.

It was puzzling to read a column that claimed to be attacking me, yet espoused the main ideas in my article.

1988 December 11, John D'Emilio, “Enemies, Anger, and Militance”, in Gay Community News, volume 16, number 22, page 5:

In its God-like prime, The Simpsons attacked well-worn satirical fodder from unexpected angles, finding fresh laughs in the hoariest of subjects.

2012 June 3, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Mr. Plow” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/19/1992)”, in The A.V. Club, Fusion Media Group:

(transitive) To aggressively challenge a person, idea, etc., with words (particularly in newspaper headlines, because it typesets into less space than "criticize" or similar).

On the fourth of March he was attacked by fever.

1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XXV, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

Hydrofluoric acid […] attacks the glass.

1866, Balfour Stewart, An Elementary Treatise on Heat:

(transitive) To begin to affect; to act upon injuriously or destructively; to begin to decompose or waste.

We’ll have dinner before we attack the biology homework.

I attacked the meal with a hearty appetite.

He filled a basin with water, and, with an old brush and piece of sandsoap, attacked the stove.

1922, Joseph Hergesheimer, Mountain Blood:

(transitive) To deal with something in a direct way; to set to work upon.

(transitive, cricket) To aim balls at the batsman’s wicket.

(intransitive, cricket) To set a field, or bowl in a manner designed to get wickets.

(intransitive, cricket) To bat aggressively, so as to score runs quickly.

Six successive defeats had left them rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table but, clearly under instructions to attack from the outset, Bolton started far the brighter.

2011 October 15, Michael Da Silva, “Wigan 1 - 3 Bolton”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer) To move forward in an active attempt to score a point, as opposed to trying not to concede.

(cycling) To accelerate quickly in an attempt to get ahead of the other riders.

(physical chemistry) (Of a chemical species) To approach a chemical species or bond in order to form a bond with it.

en-verb

attack (third-person singular simple present attacks, present participle attacking, simple past and past participle attacked or (obsolete) attackt or (obsolete, dialectal) attackted)

attacks (present singular third-person)
attacking (participle present)
attacked (participle past)
attacked (past)
attackt (obsolete participle past)
attackt (obsolete past)
attackted (dialectal obsolete participle past)
attackted (dialectal obsolete past)
attack (infinitive)

käydä käsiksi

to deal with something undesirable in a direct way

atakować

cricket: to aim balls at the batsman’s wicket

atakować

cricket: to set a field, or bowl in a manner designed to get wickets

hyökätä

soccer: to move forward in an attempt to score point


attack

attack dog, attack ad

Designed or kept for the purpose of confrontation.