attack, round, assail, lash out, snipe, assault
(verb) attack in speech or writing; “The editors of the left-leaning paper attacked the new House Speaker”
attack, assail
(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”
assail, assault, set on, attack
(verb) attack someone physically or emotionally; “The mugger assaulted the woman”; “Nightmares assailed him regularly”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
assail (third-person singular simple present assails, present participle assailing, simple past and past participle assailed)
(transitive) To attack with harsh words or violent force.
• Alissa
Source: Wiktionary
As*sail", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Assailed; p. pr. & vb. n. Assailing.] Etym: [OE. assailen, asailen, OF. asaillir, assailler, F. assaillir; (L. ad) + saillir to burst out, project, fr. L. salire to leap, spring; cf. L. assilire to leap or spring upon. See Sally.]
1. To attack with violence, or in a vehement and hostile manner; to assault; to molest; as, to assail a man with blows; to assail a city with artillery. No rude noise mine ears assailing. Cowper. No storm can now assail The charm he wears within. Keble.
2. To encounter or meet purposely with the view of mastering, as an obstacle, difficulty, or the like. The thorny wilds the woodmen fierce assail. Pope.
3. To attack morally, or with a view to produce changes in the feelings, character, conduct, existing usages, institutions; to attack by words, hostile influence, etc.; as, to assail one with appeals, arguments, abuse, ridicule, and the like. The papal authority . . . assailed. Hallam. They assailed him with keen invective; they assailed him with still keener irony. Macaulay.
Syn.
– To attack; assault; invade; encounter; fall upon. See Attack.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
29 March 2025
(adjective) without care or thought for others; “the thoughtless saying of a great princess on being informed that the people had no bread; ‘Let them eat cake’”
The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.
