WordDisk
  • Reading
    • Shortcuts
      •   Home
      •   All Articles
      •   Read from Another Site
      Sources
      • Wikipedia
      • Simple Wikipedia
      • VOA Learning English
      • Futurity
      • The Conversation
      • MIT News
      • Harvard Gazette
      • Cambridge News
      • YDS/YÖKDİL Passages
      Topics
      • Technology
      • Engineering
      • Business
      • Economics
      • Human
      • Health
      • Energy
      • Biology
      • Nature
      • Space
  •  Log in
  •  Sign up
5.07
History
Add

attack verb [ əˈtak ]

• take aggressive military action against (a place or enemy forces) with weapons or armed force.
• "in February the Germans attacked Verdun"
Similar: begin an assault, charge, pounce, strike, begin hostilities, ambush, bombard, shell, blitz, strafe, fire on/at, rush, storm,
Opposite: defend,
• criticize or oppose fiercely and publicly.
• "he attacked the government's defence policy"
Similar: criticize, censure, condemn, castigate, chastise, lambast, pillory, savage, find fault with, fulminate against, abuse, berate, reprove, rebuke, reprimand, admonish, remonstrate with, reproach, take to task, haul over the coals, impugn, harangue, blame, revile, vilify, give someone a bad press, knock, slam, take to pieces, pull apart, crucify, bash, hammer, lay into, tear into, sail into, roast, give someone a roasting, cane, blast, bawl out, dress down, rap over the knuckles, have a go at, give someone hell, carpet, slate, slag off, rubbish, monster, rollick, give someone a rollicking, give someone a rocket, tear someone off a strip, tear a strip off someone, chew out, ream out, pummel, cut up, bag, rate, slash, excoriate, objurgate, reprehend, bollock, give someone a bollocking,
Opposite: praise,
• begin to deal with (a problem or task) in a determined and vigorous way.
• "a plan of action to attack unemployment"
Similar: attend to, address, see to, deal with, grapple with, confront, direct one's attention to, focus on, concentrate on, apply oneself to, buckle down to, get to work on, go to work on, set to work on, set about, get started on, undertake, embark on, get stuck into, get cracking on, get weaving on, have a crack at, have a go at, have a shot at, have a stab at,
• (in sport) make a forceful attempt to score a goal or point or otherwise gain an advantage against an opposing team or player.
• "Crystal Palace attacked swiftly down the left"
• (of a reagent or reactive species) approach and interact with (an atom, group, or bond in a molecule), thereby breaking a bond or forming a new bond.
• "the nucleophile attacks the epoxide from the opposite side of the ring to the oxygen"

attack noun

• an aggressive and violent act against a person or place.
• "he was killed in an attack on a checkpoint"
Similar: assault, onslaught, offensive, strike, blitz, raid, sortie, sally, storming, charge, rush, drive, push, thrust, invasion, incursion, inroad, act of aggression, razzia, onset,
• an instance of fierce public criticism or opposition.
• "he launched a stinging attack on the Prime Minister"
Similar: criticism, censure, rebuke, admonition, admonishment, reprimand, reproval, condemnation, denunciation, revilement, invective, vilification, tirade, diatribe, rant, polemic, broadside, harangue, verbal onslaught, stricture, knocking, telling-off, dressing-down, rap over the knuckles, earful, roasting, rollicking, caning, rocket, wigging, slating, ticking off, carpeting, bashing, blast, rating, philippic, bollocking,
Opposite: commendation, defence,
• a sudden short bout of an illness or stress.
• "an attack of nausea"
Similar: fit, seizure, spasm, convulsion, paroxysm, outburst, flare-up, bout, spell, dose, access,
• (in sport) an aggressive attempt to score a goal or point or otherwise gain an advantage.
• "a Cardiff attack broke down inside Llanelli's 22"
Origin: early 17th century: from French attaque (noun), attaquer (verb), from Italian attacco ‘an attack’, attaccare ‘join battle’, based on an element of Germanic origin (see attach).

2025 WordDisk