Assail

//əˈseɪl// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To attack with harsh words or violent force (also figuratively). transitive

    "Muggers assailed them as they entered an alley."

  2. 2
    attack in speech or writing wordnet
  3. 3
    launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with wordnet
  4. 4
    attack someone physically or emotionally wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
attackabuseagitateambushassaultassault

Example

More examples

"Muggers assailed them as they entered an alley."

Etymology

From Middle English assailen, from Old French assaillir, assalir, from Late Latin assalīre, from Latin ad (“at, towards”) + salīre (“jump”). See also assault.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.