(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
To ~ a person or place means to try to hurt or damage them using physical violence.
He bundled the old lady into her hallway and brutally ~ed her...
While Haig and Foch argued, the Germans ~ed...
VERB: V n, V
•
Attack is also a noun.
...a campaign of air ~s on strategic targets...
Refugees had come under ~ from federal troops.
N-VAR: usu with supp
2.
If you ~ a person, belief, idea, or act, you criticize them strongly.
He publicly ~ed the people who’ve been calling for secret ballot nominations...
A newspaper ran an editorial ~ing him for being a showman.
VERB: V n, V n for -ing
•
Attack is also a noun.
The role of the state as a prime mover in planning social change has been under ~...
The committee yesterday launched a scathing ~ on British business for failing to invest.
N-VAR: usu with supp
3.
If something such as a disease, a chemical, or an insect ~s something, it harms or spoils it.
The virus seems to have ~ed his throat...
Several key crops failed when they were ~ed by pests.
VERB: V n, V n
•
Attack is also a noun.
The virus can actually destroy those white blood cells, leaving the body wide open to ~ from other infections.
N-UNCOUNT: also N in pl
4.
If you ~ a job or a problem, you start to deal with it in an energetic way.
Any attempt to ~ the budget problem is going to have to in some way deal with those issues.
VERB: V n
5.
In games such as football, when one team ~s the opponent’s goal, they try to score a goal.
Now the US is controlling the ball and ~ing the opponent’s goal...
The goal was just reward for Villa’s decision to ~ constantly in the second half.
VERB: V n, V
•
Attack is also a noun.
Lee was at the hub of some incisive ~s in the second half.
N-COUNT
6.
An ~ of an illness is a short period in which you suffer badly from it.
It had brought on an ~ of asthma.
N-COUNT: with supp
7.
see also counter-~ , heart ~