assail
/əˈseɪl/
assail verb: to attack with harsh words or violent force.
Verb
assail (third-person singular simple present assails, present participle assailing, simple past and past participle assailed)
- To attack with harsh words or violent force.
- Muggers assailed them as they entered an alley.
- Our ears were assailed by her joyous efforts on her new saxophone.
- To overcome or successfully argue against; defeat.
- "Yes," he said, half musing to himself, "I knew it must exist: the one explanation that accounts for everything and cannot be assailed. We have reached the bed-rock of truth at last."1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC
- We got married immediately after I finished my work […] which should have been the happiest day of my life. […] But, it was not my happiest day. I was assailed by doubts.1942, Zora Neale Hurston, chapter 14, in Dust Tracks on a Road, New York, N.Y.: Arno Press and The New York Times, published 1969, page 258
assail meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
assail in Hindi
- to assail, pounce on, sieze
- दबोचना dabocnā
assail in Urdu
- حملہ کرنا
assail in Bengali
- আক্রমণ করা
assail in Malayalam
- ആരെയെങ്കിലും ശാരീരികമായി ആക്രമിക്കുക, കയ്യേറ്റം ചെയ്യുക ബുദ്ധിമുട്ടിക്കുക
More languagesFewer languages
- assail in Kannada
- ಕಯ್ಮಾಡು, ಬಲಪ್ರಯೋಗಿಸು, ಹಲ್ಲೆಮಾಡು, ಆಕ್ರಮಣಮಾಡು
Examples of assail in a sentence
- His soldierly demeanour stood him good stead in civilian life when vicissitudes would assail him.
- Margaret Sphery's shrill birdcalls, whistles, and hoots assailed us from a proximitous room.
- A hawk came swooping down near tree-level to be immediately assailed by screeching pee-wits.
Synonyms of assail
Forms of assail
| third-person singular present | assails |
|---|---|
| present participle | assailing |
| past participle | assailed |
| past | assailed |
Origin of assail
From Middle English assailen, from Old French assaillir, assalir, from Late Latin assalīre, from Latin ad (“at, towards”) + salīre (“jump”). See also assault.
Words formed from assail
Words that rhyme with assail
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- veil
- pale
- avail
- wale
- whale
- bail
- hail
- yale
- bale
- snail
- travail
- brail
- exhale
- frail
- jail
- prevail
- swale
- vail
- wail
- derail
- dwale
- entail
- flail
- Gail
- gayle
- impale
- kale
- quail
- regale
- spale
- thumbnail
- white whale
- ale
- curtail
- drail
- gale
- inhale
- retail
- shale
- tael
- unveil
- ail
- all hail
- ayel
- beyond the pale
- braille
- cakes and ale
- camail
Questions about assail
- What does assail mean?
- Assail means to attack with harsh words or violent force.
- What is assail in Hindi?
- Assail in Hindi is दबोचना (dabocnā). See Assail meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is assail?
- Assail is a verb.
- How do you pronounce assail?
- Assail is pronounced /əˈseɪl/.
- What is the past tense of assail?
- The past tense of assail is assailed.
Words near assail in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: assail (page history and authors); दबोचना (Hindi) (page history and authors); assail (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); assail (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); assail (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); assail (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-assail.wav.
Cite this entry: “assail.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/assail. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.