American English pronunciation

How to pronounce attacks

IPA transcription: [ə'tæks]

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[ə'tæks]

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[ə'tæks]

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[ə'tæks]

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Noun

  • 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”

  • (military) an offensive against an enemy (using weapons)

    “the attack began at dawn”

  • an offensive move in a sport or game

    “they won the game with a 10-hit attack in the 9th inning”

  • the act of attacking

    “attacks on women increased last year”

    “they made an attempt on his life”

  • intense adverse criticism

    “Clinton directed his fire at the Republican Party”

    “the government has come under attack”

    “don't give me any flak”

  • a decisive manner of beginning a musical tone or phrase

  • a sudden occurrence of an uncontrollable condition

    “an attack of diarrhea”

  • 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”

  • strong criticism

    “he published an unexpected attack on my work”

Verb

  • 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”

  • attack someone physically or emotionally

    “The mugger assaulted the woman”

    “Nightmares assailed him regularly”

  • attack in speech or writing

    “The editors of the left-leaning paper attacked the new House Speaker”

  • take the initiative and go on the offensive

    “The Serbs attacked the village at night”

    “The visiting team started to 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”

  • begin to injure

    “The cancer cells are attacking his liver”

    “Rust is attacking the metal”