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to set upon in a forceful, violent, hostile, or aggressive way, with or without a weapon; begin fighting with:
he attacked him with his bare hands.
to begin hostilities against; start an offensive against:
to attack the enemy.
to blame or abuse violently or bitterly.
to direct unfavorable criticism against; criticize severely; argue with strongly:
he attacked his opponent’s statement.
to try to destroy, especially with verbal abuse:
to attack the mayor’s reputation.
to set about (a task) or go to work on (a thing) vigorously:
to attack housecleaning; to attack the hamburger hungrily.
(of disease, destructive agencies, etc.) to begin to affect.
to make an attack; begin hostilities.
the act of attacking; onslaught; -ssault.
a military offensive against an enemy or enemy position.
pathology. seizure by disease or illness:
an attack of indigestion.
the beginning or initiating of any action; onset.
an aggressive move in a performance or contest.
the approach or manner of approach in beginning a musical phrase.
contemporary examples

mcdonald kept walking, but flaherty attacked her with a broken gl-ss, cutting her face.
media ignores rash of -ssaults on transgender women jay michaelson june 5, 2012

“folks have gone very quickly to that issue and have attacked the character of that young lady, and i think unfairly,” he said.
person of interest identified in disappearance of uva student hannah graham julia horowitz september 18, 2014

but so far, we’ve attacked it with extremely blunt instruments, mostly macroeconomic demand-boosters.
the federal government should hire the long-term unemployed megan mcardle march 7, 2013

and last summer a resolution saying the united states would support israel if it attacked iran p-ssed 99 to 0.
how aipac botched its biggest fight in years eli lake february 10, 2014

having been attacked by the electronic intifada and others, i decided to dig deeper.
mlk supported israel gil troy january 20, 2013

historical examples

the lung was not yet attacked, but the bronchial tubes were affected.
the bramleighs of bishop’s folly charles james lever

bruce turned as sharply as if he had attacked a personal friend.
the man from the bitter roots caroline lockhart

all of them believed that he was either drowning or attacked by a crocodile.
the forest exiles mayne reid

it will be my duty when the cæsar is attacked to keep them from rushing to his aid.
“unto caesar” baroness emmuska orczy

if attacked in force ferguson was to retreat and rejoin his leader.
washington and his comrades in arms george wrong

verb
to launch a physical -ssault (against) with or without weapons; begin hostilities (with)
(intransitive) to take the initiative in a game, sport, etc: after a few minutes, the team began to attack
(transitive) to direct hostile words or writings at; criticize or abuse vehemently
(transitive) to turn one’s mind or energies vigorously to (a job, problem, etc)
(transitive) to begin to injure or affect adversely; corrode, corrupt, or infect: rust attacked the metal
(transitive) to attempt to rape
noun
the act or an instance of attacking
strong criticism or abuse: an unjustified attack on someone’s reputation
an offensive move in a game, sport, etc
commencement of a task, etc
any sudden and usually severe manifestation of a disease or disorder: a heart attack, an attack of indigestion
(ball games) the attack, the players in a team whose main role is to attack the opponents’ goal or territory
(music) decisiveness in beginning a p-ssage, movement, or piece
(music) the speed with which a note reaches its maximum volume
an attempted rape
v.

c.1600, from french attaquer (16c.), from florentine italian attaccare (battaglia) “join (battle),” thus the word is a doublet of attach, which was used 15c.-17c. also in the sense now reserved to attack. related: attacked; attacking.
n.

1660s, from attack (v.). cf. middle english attach “a seizure or attack” (of fever), late 14c.

attack at·tack (ə-tāk’)
n.
an episode or onset of a disease, often sudden in nature.
at·tack’ v.