[noun] (military) an offensive against an enemy (using weapons); "the attack began at dawn" Synonyms:onslaught, onset, onrush
[noun] a sudden occurrence of an uncontrollable condition; "an attack of diarrhea"
[noun] intense adverse criticism; "Clinton directed his fire at the Republican Party"; "the government has come under attack"; "don't give me any flak" Synonyms:fire, flak, flack, blast
[noun] the act of attacking; "attacks on women increased last year"; "they made an attempt on his life" Synonyms:attempt
[noun] an offensive move in a sport or game; "they won the game with a 10-hit attack in the 9th inning"
[noun] the onset of a corrosive or destructive process (as by a chemical agent); "the film was sensitive to attack by acids"; "open to attack by the elements"
[noun] ideas or actions intended to deal with a problem or situation; "his approach to every problem is to draw up a list of pros and cons"; "an attack on inflation"; "his plan of attack was misguided" Synonyms:approach, plan of
[noun] a decisive manner of beginning a musical tone or phrase Synonyms:tone-beginning
[noun] strong criticism; "he published an unexpected attack on my work"
[verb] launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with; "Hitler attacked Poland on September 1, 1939 and started World War II"; "Serbian forces assailed Bosnian towns all week" Synonyms:assail
[verb] attack in speech or writing; "The editors of the left-leaning paper attacked the new House Speaker" Synonyms:round, assail, lash out, snipe, assault
[verb] take the initiative and go on the offensive; "The Serbs attacked the village at night"; "The visiting team started to attack" Synonyms:aggress
[verb] attack someone physically or emotionally; "The mugger assaulted the woman"; "Nightmares assailed him regularly" Synonyms:assail, assault, set on
[verb] set to work upon; turn one's energies vigorously to a task; "I attacked the problem as soon as I got out of bed"
[verb] begin to injure; "The cancer cells are attacking his liver"; "Rust is attacking the metal"