1. (

• attack ,
• onslaught ,
• onset ,
• onrush

) (military) an offensive against an enemy (using weapons); "the attack began at dawn" ;

2. (

• attack ,

) an offensive move in a sport or game; "they won the game with a 10-hit attack in the 9th inning" ;

3. (

• fire ,
• attack ,
• flak ,
• flack ,
• blast

) intense adverse criticism; "Clinton directed his fire at the Republican Party"; "the government has come under attack"; "don't give me any flak" ;

4. (

• approach ,
• attack ,
• plan_of_attack

) 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" ;

5. (

• attack ,
• attempt ,

) the act of attacking; "attacks on women increased last year"; "they made an attempt on his life" ;

6. (

• attack ,
• tone-beginning

) a decisive manner of beginning a musical tone or phrase ;

7. (

• attack

) a sudden occurrence of an uncontrollable condition; "an attack of diarrhea" ;

8. (

• attack

) 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" ;

9. (

• attack ,

) strong criticism; "he published an unexpected attack on my work" ;

1. (

• attack ,
• assail ,

) 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" ;

2. (

• attack ,
• round ,
• assail ,
• lash_out ,
• snipe ,
• assault

) attack in speech or writing; "The editors of the left-leaning paper attacked the new House Speaker" ;

3. (

• attack ,
• aggress

) take the initiative and go on the offensive; "The Serbs attacked the village at night"; "The visiting team started to attack" ;

4. (

• assail ,
• assault ,
• set_on ,
• attack ,

) attack someone physically or emotionally; "The mugger assaulted the woman"; "Nightmares assailed him regularly" ;

5. (

• attack

) set to work upon; turn one's energies vigorously to a task; "I attacked the problem as soon as I got out of bed" ;

6. (

• attack

) begin to injure; "The cancer cells are attacking his liver"; "Rust is attacking the metal" ;