attack
- noun
- /əˈtæk/
- Specialized
- Large storms may generate high enough waves and water levels to cause direct wave attack on dunes.
- chemical attack
- corrosion attack
- vulnerable to attack
Examples
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More permanent, but costly, means of protection against sulphate attack require the use of special cements blended with reactive silica.
Academic text (2003) -
Their home, like ours, is under attack from climate change.
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An exponentially rising number of terrorist attacks is one metric that seems relevant.
Academic text (2005) -
The glass can withstand mortar attack.
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Shortly after I was discharged, my wife and I were vacationing in Florida, and we were involved in a shark attack.
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Successful companies and products are perpetually "under attack," and new entrants will inevitably make their mark.
Academic text (1994) -
As the fear of chemical attack intensified, Eagleburger returned to Israel and reiterated American requests for restraint.
Academic text (1993) -
Other common root causes of concrete deterioration in water and wastewater tanks are abrasion, chemical attack, and freeze-thaw cycling.
Academic text (1998) -
The chemical attack led to widespread devastation in the affected area.
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Experts warned that an attack on the ozone layer could have catastrophic effects on the planet.
Idioms
Compounds
- NSFW
A sudden violent act against civilians to make people afraid and reach political or religious goals
A sudden time when breathing becomes very difficult and you make a high whistling sound
- NSFW
An attack using bacteria, viruses or poisons to harm people, animals and crops
- Specialized
A military ship that travels under water to find and destroy enemy ships
- Specialized
The angle between incoming air and a wing's front-to-back line that affects how the wing lifts
- Specialized
A brief time when part of the brain gets too little blood, causing sudden weakness or vision loss
- Specialized
An action by soldiers to draw the enemy's attention away from the main battle
- Specialized
A big military ship with a long flat deck that carries and launches fighter planes
- Specialized
A U.S. military kit that turns a regular bomb dropped from a plane into a precise guided bomb
How Damaging
- Specialized
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Etymology
Attack comes from the basic idea of 'attaching' or 'going at' something, so when materials or objects suffer an attack it means a destructive process has begun that harms them over time.