attack

Pluralattacks

Formsattacks, attacking, attacked

1. 1
   armed strikenouncountable or uncountable

   An aggressive and violent action against an enemy or opponent, or the act of taking the offensive in a fight or battle.

   The general planned a surprise attack on the enemy camp.

   Coastal villages suffered repeated attacks during the ninth century.

   UsageThe target usually follows on: an attack on the city. The attacker can go first: a shark attack.

   Similarassault, offensive, raid, strike, onslaught

   Oppositedefense

2. 2
   set uponverbtransitive

   To apply violent force to a person, animal, or thing.

   Rebel forces attacked the convoy as it crossed the bridge.

   Sharks rarely attack swimmers without being provoked.

   UsageThe verb takes its object directly: attack the town. The noun usually takes on: an attack on the town.

   Similarsavage

   Oppositedefend, protect

   Note

   An animal attacks humans, or a nation is attacked, as in Franklin D. Roosevelt's "suddenly and deliberately attacked" of December 1941, where the passive puts the victim first. Older printing sometimes spells the past forms attackt, a spelling now obsolete. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • Franklin D. Roosevelt used the exact words 'suddenly and deliberately attacked' in December 1941. archives.gov
   • The quoted wording is passive, with the attacked nation as its subject. archives.gov
   • Attackt is an obsolete spelling of the simple past and past participle of attack. en.wiktionary.org
3. 3
   sudden illnessnouncountable

   A sudden, short period of illness or of a medical condition, such as asthma, migraine, or appendicitis.

   She suffered an acute attack of appendicitis on the flight home.

   Paramedics treated the runner for a suspected heart attack at the finish line.

   UsageHave or suffer an attack; say an attack of fever, or put the illness first: a heart attack.

   Similarbout, fit, episode, spell

   Note

   Medicine uses the word in two ways. It can name an onset, usually abrupt: an attack of the flu, of appendicitis, a heart attack. It also names a recurring flare of an illness already established, as in an asthma attack. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • An asthma attack is a flare-up of asthma, and attacks can recur. nhlbi.nih.gov
4. 4
   harsh criticismnouncountable or uncountable

   An attempt to undermine the worth or credibility of a person, idea, or position, whether by verbal, emotional, or physical assault.

   The senator dismissed the report as a politically motivated attack on her record.

   Early attacks on the theory focused on its lack of supporting evidence.

   UsageUsually an attack on a person or idea; a personal attack goes after someone's character instead of their argument.

   Similarcriticism, assault, broadside, onslaught, tirade

   Oppositedefense, praise

5. 5
   criticizeverbtransitive

   To aggressively challenge or criticize a person, idea, or proposal with words.

   Opposition leaders attacked the budget as reckless and shortsighted.

   Columnists regularly attack policies they consider wasteful.

   UsageOften attack something as wrong or wasteful, or attack someone for something they did.

   Similarcriticize, condemn, denounce, assail, lambaste

   Oppositedefend, praise, support, endorse

   Note

   Headline English leans on this sense because attack is short. It fits a narrow column where criticize will not, so in a headline it usually means a verbal assault, not a physical one. Outside headlines it serves columns and reviews as well: in 2012 Nathan Rabin wrote that The Simpsons "attacked well-worn satirical fodder" from unexpected angles. In these uses the violence is figurative. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

   • Nathan Rabin wrote the quoted words about The Simpsons in 2012. avclub.com
6. 6
   computer hackingnouncountable

   An effort to break into or harm a computer system by taking advantage of a weakness in it.

   Security analysts traced the attack to a compromised employee laptop.

   Phishing attacks often begin with a convincing fake email.

   Similarintrusion, breach, hack

   Note

   Security writing names attacks by their method, so the word usually heads a compound: a birthday attack, a denial-of-service attack, an injection or man-in-the-middle attack. What is at stake is a system's confidentiality, integrity or availability. The attacker exploits a weakness rather than applying force, but the vocabulary of the military sense carries over intact. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

   • Computer attacks threaten confidentiality, integrity or availability. nccoe.nist.gov
   • Exploiting a weakness is a mechanism of computer attack. csrc.nist.gov
7. 7
   game movenouncountable

   In games, any of the specific maneuvers, skills, or special abilities a character can use to inflict damage on opponents.

   The boss's fire attack hits everyone standing in the front row.

   Players often chain weaker attacks into combos for extra damage.

   Similarmove

   Note

   Game vocabulary makes the word countable in a new way: a character has attacks, much as a menu holds items. Each is a discrete move, often named by its shape: a charge attack, a jump attack, a spin attack. Designers balance each one by damage, range, cooldown and cost against the defenses it meets. Players choose an attack, chain attacks together, and learn a boss's attacks in order to survive them. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

   • Designers balance attacks by adjusting damage and range. leagueoflegends.com
   • Cooldown and resource cost are also adjusted to balance attacks. leagueoflegends.com
   • Combat balancing considers the defenses opposing attacks. leagueoflegends.com
   • Players can chain individual attacks into combinations. koeitecmoamerica.com
   • Learning a boss's attacks helps players survive the encounter. blog.playstation.com
8. 8
   tackle (job)verbtransitive

   To deal with a task or problem directly and energetically; to set to work on it vigorously.

   The new manager attacked the backlog with impressive efficiency.

   We need to attack these expenses before the end of the quarter.

   UsageOften with food or chores: attack a meal, attack the dishes. It suggests energy, not anger.

   Similartackle, address, confront, handle

   Oppositeavoid, neglect, ignore

   Note

   Hyperbole puts chores in the line of fire: homework, a meal, or a stove scrubbed with sandsoap in Joseph Hergesheimer's Mountain Blood (1915). The verb adds energy and relish rather than hostility, so attacking a meal means eating it with a hearty appetite. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Joseph Hergesheimer wrote Mountain Blood, first published in 1915. upload.wikimedia.org
   • Mountain Blood describes attacking a stove with sandsoap and scrubbing it. gutenberg.org
9. 9
   damage (disease or rust)verbtransitive

   To begin to affect something injuriously or destructively, causing it to decay or waste away.

   Salt air attacked the bridge's steel supports within a decade.

   Certain enzymes attack the proteins that hold cell walls together.

   Similarcorrode, erode, damage, degrade

   Note

   Agents rather than enemies do the damage here: a fever, salt air, an acid. Balfour Stewart's An Elementary Treatise on Heat (1866) has hydrofluoric acid that "attacks the glass". Macaulay's History of England shows the passive that illness takes: "he was attacked by fever." The chemist's narrower use, a molecule approaching in order to bond, is the reaction sense. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • Balfour Stewart's An Elementary Treatise on Heat was first published in 1866. en.wikisource.org
   • Stewart's An Elementary Treatise on Heat contains the words “attacks the glass” referring to hydrofluoric acid. en.wiktionary.org
   • Macaulay's History of England contains the exact words “he was attacked by fever.” gutenberg.org
10. 10
    try to score (soccer)verbintransitive

    In soccer, to move forward in an active attempt to score, as opposed to focusing on not conceding.

    Trailing by a goal, the coach told his players to attack.

    United attacked down both wings, stretching the defense thin.

    Similaradvance

    Oppositedefend

    Note

    Football commentary uses the verb for a team's whole posture: committing players forward rather than holding a defensive shape. Attacking play ranges from patient buildup to rapid counters. The phrase attack from the outset, used in BBC Sport's 2011 report of Wigan 1–3 Bolton, signals intent from the first whistle. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • BBC Sport published a report titled Wigan 1–3 Bolton in 2011. en.wiktionary.org
    • The report uses the exact phrase “attack from the outset”. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    kind of weaponadjective

    Designed, trained, or kept for the purpose of confrontation or aggression.

    The navy ordered three new attack submarines last year.

    Voters grew tired of the attack ads that filled the airwaves before the election.

    UsageUsed before a noun, in compounds such as attack dog, attack ad and attack helicopter.

    Similaroffensive, aggressive

    Oppositedefensive

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