Definitions
1.nounAn attempt to cause damage, injury to, or death of opponent or enemy.
2.nounAn attempt to detract from the worth or credibility of, a person, position, idea, object, or thing, by physical, verbal, emotional, or other assault."They claimed the censorship of the article was an attack on free speech."
3.nounA time in which one attacks; the offence of a battle."The army timed their attack to coincide with the local celebrations."
4.noun(by extension) The beginning of active operations on anything."Having washed the plates from dinner, I made an attack on the laundry."
5.nounAn attempt to exploit a vulnerability in a computer system.
6.nounCollectively, the bowlers of a cricket side.
7.nounAny contact with the ball other than a serve or block which sends the ball across the plane of the net.
8.nounThe three attackmen on the field or all the attackmen of a team.
9.nounThe sudden onset of a disease or condition."I've had an attack of the flu."
10.nounAn active episode of a chronic or recurrent disease.
11.nounThe onset of a musical note, particularly with respect to the strength (and duration) of that onset.
12.noun(audio) The amount of time it takes for the volume of an audio signal to go from zero to maximum level (e.g. an audio waveform representing a snare drum hit would feature a very fast attack, whereas that of a wave washing to shore would feature a slow attack).
13.verbTo apply violent force to someone or something."This species of snake will only attack humans if it feels threatened."
14.verbTo aggressively challenge a person, idea, etc., with words (particularly in newspaper headlines, because it typesets into less space than "criticize" or similar)."She published an article attacking the recent pay cuts."
15.verbTo begin to affect; to act upon injuriously or destructively; to begin to decompose or waste.
16.verbTo deal with something in a direct way; to set to work upon."I attacked the meal with a hearty appetite."
17.verbTo aim balls at the batsman’s wicket.
18.verbTo set a field, or bowl in a manner designed to get wickets.
19.verbTo bat aggressively, so as to score runs quickly.
20.verbTo move forward in an active attempt to score a point, as opposed to trying not to concede.
21.verbTo accelerate quickly in an attempt to get ahead of the other riders.