Noun

(en noun)

A violent onset or attack with physical means, as blows, weapons, etc.; an onslaught; the rush or charge of an attacking force; onset; as, to make assault upon a man, a house, or a town.

* Prescott

The Spanish general prepared to renew the assault .

* Shakespeare

Unshaken bears the assault / Of their most dreaded foe, the strong southwest.

A violent onset or attack with moral weapons, as words, arguments, appeals, and the like; as, to make an assault on the prerogatives of a prince, or on the constitution of a government.

(criminal, legal) An attempt to commit battery: a violent attempt, or willful effort with force or violence, to do hurt to another, but without necessarily touching his person, as by lifting a fist in a threatening manner, or by striking at him and missing him.

(singulare tantum, legal) The crime whose action is such an attempt.

An act that causes someone to apprehend imminent bodily harm.

(singulare tantum, legal) The tort whose action is such an act.

(fencing) A non-competitive combat between two fencers.

Noun

(en noun)

An attempt to cause damage or injury to, or to somehow detract from the worth or credibility of, a person, position, idea, object, or thing, by physical, verbal, emotional, or other assault.

* {{quote-book, year=1913, author=

, title=Lord Stranleigh Abroad , chapter=4 citation , passage=“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. …”}}

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author= Mark Tran

, volume=189, issue=6, page=1, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Denied an education by war , passage=One particularly damaging, but often ignored, effect of conflict on education is the proliferation of attacks' on schools

A time in which one attacks. The offence of a battle.

(cricket) Collectively, the bowlers of a cricket side.

(volleyball) Any contact with the ball other than a serve or block which sends the ball across the plane of the net.

(lacrosse) The three attackmen on the field or all the attackmen of a team.

The sudden onset of a disease.

An active episode of a chronic or recurrent disease.

(music) The onset of a musical note, particularly with respect to the strength (and duration) of that onset.

(audio) The amount of time it takes 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).