Assailment

to attack vigorously or violently; -ssault.
to attack with arguments, criticism, ridicule, abuse, etc.:
to -ssail one’s opponent with slander.
to undertake with the purpose of mastering:
he -ssailed his studies with new determination.
to impinge upon; make an impact on; beset:
his mind was -ssailed by conflicting arguments. the light -ssailed their eyes.
historical examples

as for the men, they twisted every item about gourlay and his domicile into fresh matter of -ssailment.
the house with the green shutters george douglas brown

was he not member, duly elected, without possibility of -ssailment in his legal right?
annie besant annie besant

franklin sat by the side of jefferson, as the admirable doc-ment was subjected to this -ssailment.
benjamin franklin, a picture of the struggles of our infant nation one hundred years ago john s. c. abbott

verb (transitive)
to attack violently; -ssault
to criticize or ridicule vehemently, as in argument
to beset or disturb: his mind was -ssailed by doubts
to encounter with the intention of mastering: to -ssail a problem, to -ssail a difficult mountain ridge
v.

c.1200, from old french -ssalir “attack, -ssault, -ssail” (12c., modern french -ssaillir), from vulgar latin -adsalire “to leap at,” from latin ad- “at” (see ad-) + salire “to leap” (see salient (adj.)). figurative use from mid-14c. related: -ssailed; -ssailing; -ssailable.