- assault
- I(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)v. & n. See attack.II(Roget's IV) n.1. [An attack]Syn. charge, advance, onslaught; see attack 1 .2. [A physical attack on another person]v.1. [To attack]Syn. attack, assail, set upon, strike; see attack 1 , 2 .2. [To rape]Syn. attack, violate, ravish; see rape .See Synonym Study at attack .III(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.1. physical or verbal attack offense, affront, insult, beating, pounding, pummeling, mugging, molestation, rape, battery, violence.2. raid siege, blitz, storming, foray, offensive, invasion.IV(Roget's Thesaurus II) I noun The act of attacking: aggression, assailment, attack, attempt, offense, offensive, onrush, onset, onslaught, strike. See ATTACK. II verb 1. To set upon with violent force: aggress, assail, attack, beset, fall on (or upon), go at, have at, sail into, storm, strike. Informal: light into, pitch into. See ATTACK. 2. To hit heavily and repeatedly with violent blows: assail, baste, batter, beat, belabor, buffet, drub, hammer, pound, pummel, smash, thrash, thresh. Informal: lambaste. Slang: clobber. Idiom: rain blows on. See ATTACK, STRIKE. 3. To compel (another) to participate in or submit to a sexual act: force, rape, ravish, violate. See SEX.
English dictionary for students. 2013.