attack
Syllables: at·tackUK/əˈtæk/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
British/əˈtak/
attack noun: an attempt to cause damage, injury to, or death of an opponent or enemy. Also the abbreviation of heart attack.
Noun
attack (plural attacks)
- An attempt to cause damage, injury to, or death of an opponent or enemy.
- 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
- Any of several specific maneuvers, skills, or special abilities that a character can use to inflict damage against opponents.
- 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 16 Dec 2002
- 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
- An attempt to detract from the worth or credibility of, a person, position, idea, object, or thing, by physical, verbal, emotional, or other assault.
- “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.
- A time in which one attacks; the offence of a battle.
- The army timed their attack to coincide with the local celebrations.
- The beginning of active operations on anything.
- Having washed the plates from dinner, I made an attack on the laundry.
- An attempt to exploit a vulnerability in a computer system.
- birthday attack; denial-of-service attack
- Collectively, the bowlers of a cricket side.
- Any contact with the ball other than a serve or block which sends the ball across the plane of the net.
- The three attackmen on the field or all the attackmen of a team.
- The sudden onset of a disease or condition.
- I've had an attack of the flu.
- An active episode of a chronic or recurrent disease.
- The onset of a musical note, particularly with respect to the strength (and duration) of that onset.
- 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
- 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).
- The initial sensory impact of a wine.
Verb
attack (third-person singular simple present attacks, present participle attacking, simple past and past participle attacked or (obsolete) attackt or (obsolete, dialectal) attackted)
- To apply violent force to someone or something.
- 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
- Synonyms:
- savage
- To aggressively challenge a person, idea, etc., with words (particularly in newspaper headlines, because it typesets into less space than "criticize" or similar).
- 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
- To begin to affect; to act upon injuriously or destructively; to begin to decompose or waste.
- 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...
- Hydrofluoric acid […] attacks the glass.1866, Balfour Stewart, An Elementary Treatise on Heat
- To deal with something in a direct way; to set to work upon.
- We’ll have dinner before we attack the biology homework.
- I attacked the meal with a hearty appetite.
- To aim balls at the batsman’s wicket.
- To set a field, or bowl in a manner designed to get wickets.
- To bat aggressively, so as to score runs quickly.
- To move forward in an active attempt to score a point, as opposed to trying not to concede.
- 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
- To accelerate quickly in an attempt to get ahead of the other riders.
- (Of a chemical species) To approach a chemical species or bond in order to form a bond with it.
Adjective
attack (not comparable)
- Designed or kept for the purpose of confrontation.
- attack dog, attack ad
Also used as
attack is also the abbreviation of heart attack.
attack meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
attack in Hindi
- attempt to cause damage, injury, or death
- आक्रमण ākramaṇ, प्रहार prahār, धावा dhāvā, हमला hamlā
- offense of a battle
- आक्रमण ākramaṇ, धावा dhāvā, प्रहार prahār
- to apply violent force
- आक्रमण करना ākramaṇ karnā
attack in Tamil
- attempt to cause damage, injury, or death
- தாக்குதல் tākkutal
- offense of a battle
- தாக்குதல் tākkutal
- to apply violent force
- தாக்கு tākku
- to aggressively challenge with words
- தாக்கு tākku
attack in Urdu
- attempt to cause damage, injury, or death
- حَمْلَہ hamla, آکْرَمَن ākraman, یُورِش yūriś, ہَجْمَہ hajma, ہُجُوم hujūm
attack in Bengali
- attempt to cause damage, injury, or death
- হামলা hamla, আক্রমণ akromon
More languagesFewer languages
- attack in Telugu
- దాడి dāḍi, దాడి చేయు dāḍi cēyu, దండెత్తు daṇḍettu
- attack in Malayalam
- ആക്രമണം ākramaṇaṁ, ആക്രമിക്കുക ākramikkuka
- attack in Odia
- ଆକ୍ରମଣ ākramaṇa
- attack in Nepali
- आक्रमण ākramaṇ, हमला hamalā
- attack in Pashto
- حمله hamlá, هجوم hojum
- attack in Arabic
- هُجُوم m هَجْمَة hujūm, حَمْلَة ḥamla, هَاجَمَ hājama
- attack in Malay
- serangan, menyerang
- attack in Indonesian
- serangan, serbuan, anfal, kritis
- attack in Persian
- حمله کردن hamle kardan, هجوم آوردن
- attack in Thai
- การโจมตี gaan-joom-dtii, โจมตี joom-dtii
- attack in Vietnamese
- sự tấn công, sự công kích, công kích
- attack in Myanmar
- ရန်ပြု ranpru.
Examples of attack in a sentence
- 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....
- He filled a basin with water, and, with an old brush and piece of sandsoap, attacked the stove.1922, Joseph Hergesheimer, Mountain Blood:
Synonyms of attack
27 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of attack
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | attacks |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | attacks |
| present participle | attacking |
| past participle | attacked |
| past | attacked |
| past participle (obsolete) | attackt |
| past (obsolete) | attackt |
| past participle (obsolete, dialectal) | attackted |
| past (obsolete, dialectal) | attackted |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | attackest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | attackedst |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | attacketh |
Origin of attack
Borrowed from French attaque, derived from the verb attaquer, from Italian attaccare (“to join, attach”) (used in attaccare battaglia (“to join battle”)), from Frankish *stakkijan (“to stick, stick to, attach”). Doublet of attach. Displaced native Middle English onresen, from Old English onrǣsan (“to attack”); and Middle English resinge (“an assault, attack”) (compare Old English onrǣs (“an attack”)).
Words formed from attack
- angle of attack
- attack ad
- attack aircraft
- attack au fer
- attack dog
- attack helicopter
- attacking midfielder
- attacking zone
- attack is the best form of defence
- attack is the best form of defense
- attacklike
- attackman
- attack page
- attack plan
- attack rate
- attack surface
- attack therapy
- attack time
- attack timing
- attack transport
- attack vector
- attackworthy
- complement membrane attack complex
- line of attack
- maximum attack
- membrane attack complex
- nonattack
- nonattackable
- open the attack
- personally attack
- plan of attack
- the best defence is attack
- attackable
- unattackable
- attackee
- reattack
- unattacked
Phrases with attack
- attack ads
- sex attack
- acid attack
- attack dogs
- copy attack
- drop attack
- goal attack
- spaz attack
- time attack
- TOAD attack
- wing attack
- attack pages
66 more phrasesFewer phrases
- attack plans
- attack times
- ember attack
- false attack
- heart attack
- panic attack
- score attack
- shark attack
- smurf attack
- spack attack
- spike attack
- Sybil attack
- asthma attack
- Grob's attack
- pincer attack
- replay attack
- salami attack
- smudge attack
- attack timings
- attack vectors
- fraggle attack
- on-path attack
- passive attack
- shatter attack
- suicide attack
- attack surfaces
- birthday attack
- compound attack
- lines of attack
- personal attack
- plans of attack
- preimage attack
- angles of attack
- asthmatic attack
- Byzantine attack
- cold boot attack
- collision attack
- evil maid attack
- Fegatello Attack
- poisoning attack
- real-time attack
- Stonewall Attack
- dictionary attack
- discovered attack
- attack helicopters
- Fried Liver Attack
- Adams-Stokes attack
- Stokes-Adams attack
- supply chain attack
- Coppersmith's attack
- watering hole attack
- ciphertext-only attack
- known-plaintext attack
- second preimage attack
- second-preimage attack
- chosen-plaintext attack
- heart attack on a plate
- known-ciphertext attack
- chosen-ciphertext attack
- denial-of-service attack
- man-in-the-middle attack
- membrane attack complexes
- serious as a heart attack
- transient ischemic attack
- transient ischaemic attack
- complement membrane attack complexes
Words that rhyme with attack
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- whack
- slack
- Cadillac
- swack
- thwack
- pac
- shack
- bivouac
- cack
- clack
- gack
- lack
- smack
- unpack
- wrack
- aback
- flak
- hark back
- mack
- claque
- flack
- knack
- quack
- shellac
- snack
- yak
- Aach
- ack
- gak
- mac
- Meshach
- multitrack
- plack
- snacc
- wack
- akh
- alack
- awrack
- brach
- cac
- Cayman Brac
- Chiraq
- cook back
- craic
- diclofenac
- dictionary attack
- dime back
- fac
Questions about attack
- What does attack mean?
- Attack means an attempt to cause damage, injury to, or death of an opponent or enemy.
- What is attack in Hindi?
- Attack in Hindi is आक्रमण (ākramaṇ), प्रहार (prahār), धावा (dhāvā). See Attack meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use attack in a sentence?
- In its God-like prime, The Simpsons attacked well-worn satirical fodder from unexpected angles, finding fresh laughs in the hoariest of subjects.
- What part of speech is attack?
- Attack can be a noun, a verb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce attack?
- Attack is pronounced /əˈtæk/ (UK).
- What is the plural of attack?
- The plural of attack is attacks.
Words near attack in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: attack (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: En-us-attack.ogg, En-au-attack.ogg.
Cite this entry: “attack.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/attack. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.