attack definition
Overview
This page has 25 definitions of attack in English and Swedish. Attack is a noun, verb and adjective. Examples of how to use attack in a sentence are shown. Also define these 0 related words and terms: .
English attack definition
Etymology
Borrowed from French attaque, derived from the verb attaquer, from Italian attaccare (“to join, attach”) (used in attaccare battaglia (“to join battle”)), from Frankish *stakka (“stick”). Doublet of attach. Displaced native Old English on rǣsan (“to attack”) and onrǣs (“an attack”).
Pronunciation
Noun
attack (plural attacks)
- An attempt to cause damage, injury to, or death of opponent or enemy.
- 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 161:
- From 1906 to 1960, there were forty-six recorded shark attacks, half of which were fatal.
- 2013 July 19, Mark Tran, “Denied an education by war”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 1:
- 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.
- An attempt to detract from the worth or credibility of, a person, position, idea, object, or thing, by physical, verbal, emotional, or other assault.
- 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad[1]:
- “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. …”
- 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.
- (informal, by extension) The beginning of active operations on anything.
- Having washed the plates from dinner, I made an attack on the laundry.
- (computing) An attempt to exploit a vulnerability in a computer system.
- (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.
- (medicine) 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.
- (music) The onset of a musical note, particularly with respect to the strength (and duration) of that onset.
- 2004, Gary Giddins, Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century, page 322:
- 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, […]
- (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).
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:attack
Hyponyms
- arson attack
- birthday attack
- cryptanalytic attack
- cryptographic attack
- cyberattack, cyber-attack
- man-in-the-middle attack
- pincer attack
- preimage attack
- second-preimage attack
- smudge attack
Derived terms
- Adams-Stokes attack
- angle of attack
- asthma attack
- asthmatic attack
- 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
- attack page
- attack therapy
- attack vector
- billion laughs attack
- bio-attack
- chosen-ciphertext attack
- chosen-plaintext attack
- ciphertext-only attack
- cold boot attack
- collision attack
- complement membrane attack complex
- compound attack
- Coppersmith's attack
- counter-attack
- dictionary attack
- discovered attack
- drop attack
- ember attack
- evil maid attack
- false attack
- fraggle attack
- goal attack
- Grob's attack
- heart attack
- known-plaintext attack
- line of attack
- membrane attack complex
- open the attack
- panic attack
- personal attack
- personally attack
- real-time attack
- replay attack
- salami attack
- score attack
- second preimage attack
- sex attack
- shark attack
- shatter attack
- smurf attack
- spack attack
- spaz attack
- spike attack
- Stokes-Adams attack
- suicide attack
- Sybil attack
- the best defence is attack
- time attack
- transient ischaemic attack
- transient ischemic attack
- watering hole attack
- wing attack
Related terms
Translations
attempt to cause damage, injury, or death
|
attempt to detract from the worth or credibility of, a person, position, idea, object, or thing
offense of a battle
|
|
volleyball: hit other than serve or block that sends the ball over the net
lacrosse: the attackmen of a team
|
medicine: sudden onset of a disease
|
active episode of a chronic or recurrent disease
amount of time it takes for the volume of an audio signal to go from zero to maximum level
Verb
attack (third-person singular simple present attacks, present participle attacking, simple past and past participle attacked or (obsolete) attackt or (obsolete, dialectal) attackted)
- (transitive) To apply violent force to someone or something.
- This species of snake will only attack humans if it feels threatened.
- (transitive) 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.
- 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. Club[2], Fusion Media Group:
- In its God-like prime, The Simpsons attacked well-worn satirical fodder from unexpected angles, finding fresh laughs in the hoariest of subjects.
- (transitive) To begin to affect; to act upon injuriously or destructively; to begin to decompose or waste.
- 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 25, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volumes (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
- On the fourth of March he was attacked by fever.
- 1866, Balfour Stewart, An Elementary Treatise on Heat:
- Hydrofluoric acid […] attacks the glass.
- (transitive) 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.
- 1922, Joseph Hergesheimer, Mountain Blood[3]:
- He filled a basin with water, and, with an old brush and piece of sandsoap, attacked the stove.
- (transitive, cricket) To aim balls at the batsman’s wicket.
- (intransitive, cricket) To set a field, or bowl in a manner designed to get wickets.
- (intransitive, cricket) To bat aggressively, so as to score runs quickly.
- (soccer) To move forward in an active attempt to score a point, as opposed to trying not to concede.
- (cycling) To accelerate quickly in an attempt to get ahead of the other riders.
- (chemistry) (Of a chemical species) To approach a chemical species or bond in order to form a bond with it.
Conjugation
Conjugation of attack
| infinitive | (to) attack | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| present tense | past tense | ||
| 1st-person singular | attack | attacked | |
| 2nd-person singular | attack, attackest† | attacked, attackedst† | |
| 3rd-person singular | attacks, attacketh† | attacked | |
| plural | attack | ||
| subjunctive | attack | attacked | |
| imperative | attack | — | |
| participles | attacking | attacked | |
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:attack
Translations
to apply violent force
|
to aggressively challenge with words
|
to deal with something undesirable in a direct way
|
cricket: to aim balls at the batsman’s wicket
|
cricket: to set a field, or bowl in a manner designed to get wickets
|
soccer: to move forward in an attempt to score point
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Dictionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Adjective
attack (not comparable)
- Designed or kept for the purpose of confrontation.
- attack dog, attack ad
Further reading
- “attack”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “attack”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “attack”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Swedish attack definition
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
attack c
Declension
| Declension of attack | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
| Nominative | attack | attacken | attacker | attackerna |
| Genitive | attacks | attackens | attackers | attackernas |
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- attack in Svensk ordbok.