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).