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Definition of assault verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

assault

verb
 
/əˈsɔːlt/
 
/əˈsɔːlt/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they assault
 
/əˈsɔːlt/
 
/əˈsɔːlt/
he / she / it assaults
 
/əˈsɔːlts/
 
/əˈsɔːlts/
past simple assaulted
 
/əˈsɔːltɪd/
 
/əˈsɔːltɪd/
past participle assaulted
 
/əˈsɔːltɪd/
 
/əˈsɔːltɪd/
-ing form assaulting
 
/əˈsɔːltɪŋ/
 
/əˈsɔːltɪŋ/
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  1. assault somebody to attack somebody violently, especially when this is a crime
    • He has been charged with assaulting a police officer.
    • Four women have been sexually assaulted in the area recently.
    • He admitted indecently assaulting three men.
    • Many healthcare workers say they have been physically assaulted by patients.
    Topics Crime and punishmentc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • brutally
    • seriously
    • violently
    See full entry
  2. assault something (formal) to affect your senses in a way that is very unpleasant or uncomfortable
    • Loud rock music assaulted our ears.
  3. Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French asaut (noun), assauter (verb), based on Latin ad- ‘to’ + saltare, frequentative of salire ‘to leap’. Compare with assail.
See assault in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee assault in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
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noun
 
 
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