assail

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as·sail

 (ə-sāl′)
tr.v. as·sailed, as·sail·ing, as·sails
1. To attack violently, as with blows or military force; assault.
2. To attack verbally, as with ridicule or censure. See Synonyms at attack.
3. To trouble or beset, as with questions or doubts.

[Middle English assailen, from Old French asalir, asaill-, from Vulgar Latin *assalīre, variant of Latin assilīre, to jump on : ad-, onto; see ad- + salīre, to jump; see sel- in Indo-European roots.]

as·sail′a·ble adj.
as·sail′a·bil′i·ty n.
as·sail′er n.
as·sail′ment n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

assail

(əˈseɪl)
vb (tr)
1. to attack violently; assault
2. to criticize or ridicule vehemently, as in argument
3. to beset or disturb: his mind was assailed by doubts.
4. to encounter with the intention of mastering: to assail a problem; to assail a difficult mountain ridge.
[C13: from Old French asalir, from Vulgar Latin assalīre (unattested) to leap upon, from Latin assilīre, from salīre to leap]
asˈsailable adj
asˈsailer n
asˈsailment n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

as•sail

(əˈseɪl)

v.t.
1. to attack vigorously or violently; assault.
2. to attack verbally, as with arguments, criticism, or abuse.
3. to make an impact on; beset: The harsh light assailed their eyes.
[1175–1225; Middle English asaylen < Old French asaill-, tonic s. of asalir < Vulgar Latin *assalīre, for Latin assilīre; see assault]
as•sail′a•ble, adj.
as•sail′a•ble•ness, n.
as•sail′er, n.
as•sail′ment, n.
syn: See attack.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

assail


Past participle: assailed
Gerund: assailing

Imperative
assail
assail
Present
I assail
you assail
he/she/it assails
we assail
you assail
they assail
Preterite
I assailed
you assailed
he/she/it assailed
we assailed
you assailed
they assailed
Present Continuous
I am assailing
you are assailing
he/she/it is assailing
we are assailing
you are assailing
they are assailing
Present Perfect
I have assailed
you have assailed
he/she/it has assailed
we have assailed
you have assailed
they have assailed
Past Continuous
I was assailing
you were assailing
he/she/it was assailing
we were assailing
you were assailing
they were assailing
Past Perfect
I had assailed
you had assailed
he/she/it had assailed
we had assailed
you had assailed
they had assailed
Future
I will assail
you will assail
he/she/it will assail
we will assail
you will assail
they will assail
Future Perfect
I will have assailed
you will have assailed
he/she/it will have assailed
we will have assailed
you will have assailed
they will have assailed
Future Continuous
I will be assailing
you will be assailing
he/she/it will be assailing
we will be assailing
you will be assailing
they will be assailing
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been assailing
you have been assailing
he/she/it has been assailing
we have been assailing
you have been assailing
they have been assailing
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been assailing
you will have been assailing
he/she/it will have been assailing
we will have been assailing
you will have been assailing
they will have been assailing
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been assailing
you had been assailing
he/she/it had been assailing
we had been assailing
you had been assailing
they had been assailing
Conditional
I would assail
you would assail
he/she/it would assail
we would assail
you would assail
they would assail
Past Conditional
I would have assailed
you would have assailed
he/she/it would have assailed
we would have assailed
you would have assailed
they would have assailed
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Verb1.assail - attack someone physically or emotionallyassail - attack someone physically or emotionally; "The mugger assaulted the woman"; "Nightmares assailed him regularly"
bait - attack with dogs or set dogs upon
sic, set - urge to attack someone; "The owner sicked his dogs on the intruders"; "the shaman sics sorcerers on the evil spirits"
bulldog - attack viciously and ferociously
rush - attack suddenly
blindside - attack or hit on or from the side where the attacked person's view is obstructed
savage - attack brutally and fiercely
reassail - assail again; "Her old fears reassailed her"
jump - make a sudden physical attack on; "The muggers jumped the woman in the fur coat"
set upon, beset - assail or attack on all sides: "The zebra was beset by leopards"
ravish, assault, dishonor, dishonour, outrage, violate - force (someone) to have sex against their will; "The woman was raped on her way home at night"
desecrate, outrage, profane, violate - violate the sacred character of a place or language; "desecrate a cemetery"; "violate the sanctity of the church"; "profane the name of God"
molest - harass or assault sexually; make indecent advances to
2.assail - launch an attack or assault onassail - 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"
fight, struggle, contend - be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight; "the tribesmen fought each other"; "Siblings are always fighting"; "Militant groups are contending for control of the country"
aggress, attack - take the initiative and go on the offensive; "The Serbs attacked the village at night"; "The visiting team started to attack"
submarine - attack by submarine; "The Germans submarined the Allies"
pelt, pepper - attack and bombard with or as if with missiles; "pelt the speaker with questions"
strike, hit - make a strategic, offensive, assault against an enemy, opponent, or a target; "The Germans struck Poland on Sept. 1, 1939"; "We must strike the enemy's oil fields"; "in the fifth inning, the Giants struck, sending three runners home to win the game 5 to 2"
counterattack, counterstrike - make a counterattack
gas - attack with gas; subject to gas fumes; "The despot gassed the rebellious tribes"
surprise, storm - attack by storm; attack suddenly
blitz - attack suddenly and without warning; "Hitler blitzed Poland"
invade, occupy - march aggressively into another's territory by military force for the purposes of conquest and occupation; "Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1939"
besiege, circumvent, hem in, beleaguer, surround - surround so as to force to give up; "The Turks besieged Vienna"
bomb, bombard - throw bombs at or attack with bombs; "The Americans bombed Dresden"
strafe - attack with machine guns or cannon fire from a low-flying plane; "civilians were strafed in an effort to force the country's surrender"
cannonade - attack with cannons or artillery
torpedo - attack or hit with torpedoes
raid, bust - search without warning, make a sudden surprise attack on; "The police raided the crack house"
3.assail - attack in speech or writingassail - attack in speech or writing; "The editors of the left-leaning paper attacked the new House Speaker"
criticise, criticize, pick apart, knock - find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws; "The paper criticized the new movie"; "Don't knock the food--it's free"
blackguard, clapperclaw, abuse, shout - use foul or abusive language towards; "The actress abused the policeman who gave her a parking ticket"; "The angry mother shouted at the teacher"
claw - attack as if with claws; "The politician clawed his rival"
vitriol - subject to bitter verbal abuse
rip - criticize or abuse strongly and violently; "The candidate ripped into his opponent mercilessly"
whang - attack forcefully; "whang away at the school reform plan"
barrage, bombard - address with continuously or persistently, as if with a barrage; "The speaker was barraged by an angry audience"; "The governor was bombarded with requests to grant a pardon to the convicted killer"
scald, blister, whip - subject to harsh criticism; "The Senator blistered the administration in his speech on Friday"; "the professor scaled the students"; "your invectives scorched the community"
rubbish - attack strongly
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

assail

verb
1. criticize, abuse, blast, flame (informal), put down, malign, berate, revile, vilify, tear into (informal), diss (slang, chiefly U.S.), impugn, go for the jugular, lambast(e) These newspapers assail the government each day.
2. attack, charge, assault, invade, set about, beset, fall upon, set upon, lay into (informal), maltreat, belabour He was assailed by a young man with a knife.
3. plague, trouble, pain, harry, bother, disturb, torture, haunt, annoy, tease, torment, harass, hassle (informal), afflict, badger, persecute, molest, pester, vex, bedevil, give someone grief (Brit. & S. African) She is assailed by self-doubt and emotional insecurity.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

assail

verb
1. To hit heavily and repeatedly with violent blows:
Informal: lambaste.
Slang: clobber.
Idiom: rain blows on.
2. To attack with harsh, often insulting language:
3. To set upon with violent force:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
يُهاجِم بِعُنْف، يُزْعِج بِالأسْئِلَه
napadnoutútočit na
angribeoverfaldeplage
ráîast á; kvelja, hrjá
pultiužpultiužpuolėjasužversti
uzbrukt
şiddetle saldırmak

assail

[əˈseɪl] VT (frm)
1. (= attack) (lit) → acometer, atacar (fig) → atacar
he was assailed by criticsle atacaron los críticos
a sound assailed my earun ruido penetró (en) mis oídos
2. (= bombard) to assail sb with questionsasaltar or bombardear a algn a preguntas, freír a algn a preguntas
they assailed her with questionsla asaltaron or bombardearon a preguntas, la frieron a preguntas
he was assailed by doubts; doubts assailed himle asaltaban las dudas
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

assail

[əˈseɪl] vtassaillir
to be assailed by doubts → être assailli par le doute
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

assail

vt (lit, fig)angreifen; (fig: with questions etc) → überschütten, bombardieren; a harsh sound assailed my earsein scharfes Geräusch drang an mein Ohr; to be assailed by doubtsvon Zweifeln befallen sein or geplagt werden
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

assail

[əˈseɪl] vt to assail (with)assalire (di)
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

assail

(əˈseil) verb
to attack, torment. He was assailed with questions; assailed by doubts.
asˈsailant noun
a person who attacks. His assailant came up behind him in the dark.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
It was only one phase of the multitudinous emotions which had assailed her.
The Bowman immediately shot out an arrow and said to the Lion: "I send thee my messenger, that from him thou mayest learn what I myself shall be when I assail thee." The wounded Lion rushed away in great fear, and when a Fox who had seen it all happen told him to be of good courage and not to back off at the first attack he replied: "You counsel me in vain; for if he sends so fearful a messenger, how shall I abide the attack of the man himself?'
But evil things, in robes of sorrow, Assailed the monarch's high estate.(Ah, let us mourn!
He scoffed at them as adventures, mountebanks, sideshow riffraff, dime museum freaks; he assailed their showy titles with measureless derision; he said they were back-alley barbers disguised as nobilities, peanut peddlers masquerading as gentlemen, organ-grinders bereft of their brother monkey.
Advancing, therefore, without much order, they had just crossed the brook with a part of their followers, when they were assailed in front, flank, and rear at once, with an impetuosity to which, in their confused and ill-prepared condition, it was impossible to offer effectual resistance.
"Here, brother Sancho Panza," said Don Quixote when he saw it, "we may plunge our hands up to the elbows in what they call adventures; but observe, even shouldst thou see me in the greatest danger in the world, thou must not put a hand to thy sword in my defence, unless indeed thou perceivest that those who assail me are rabble or base folk; for in that case thou mayest very properly aid me; but if they be knights it is on no account permitted or allowed thee by the laws of knighthood to help me until thou hast been dubbed a knight."
Within the hut his nostrils were assailed by many odors; but clear and distinct among them was one that half aroused a latent memory of the past--it was the faint and delicate odor of a woman.
Had his fingers found the throat of Professor Maxon beneath the coverlet they would never have released their hold until life had forever left the body of the scientist, but now that the highest tide of the young man's hatred had come and gone he found himself for the first time assailed by doubts.
Whilst they were carefully regarding this--Adam with the aid of an opera-glass--their nostrils were assailed by a horrid stench, something like that which rose from the well-hole in Diana's Grove.