Assault
Assault ({not transcribed}) , noun
[Old English asaut, assaut, Old French assaut, asalt, French assaut, Late Latin assaltus; Latin ad + saltus a leaping, a springing, salire to leap. See Assail.]
1.
A violent onset or attack with physical means, as blows, weapons, etc.; an onslaught; the rush or charge of an attacking force; onset; as, to make assault upon a man, a house, or a town.
The Spanish general prepared to renew the assault.
Unshaken bears the assault
Of their most dreaded foe, the strong southwest.
2.
A violent onset or attack with moral weapons, as words, arguments, appeals, and the like; as, to make an assault on the prerogatives of a prince, or on the constitution of a government. — Clarendon
3.
(Law) An apparently violent attempt, or willful offer with force or violence, to do hurt to another; an attempt or offer to beat another, accompanied by a degree of violence, but without touching his person, as by lifting the fist, or a cane, in a threatening manner, or by striking at him, and missing him. If the blow aimed takes effect, it is a battery. — Blackstone. Wharton
Practically, however, the word assault is used to include the battery.
Assault , transitive verb
[From Assault, n.: compare Old French assaulter, Late Latin assaltare.]
1.
To make an assault upon, as by a sudden rush of armed men; to attack with unlawful or insulting physical violence or menaces.
Insnared, assaulted, overcome, led bound.
2.
To attack with moral means, or with a view of producing moral effects; to attack by words, arguments, or unfriendly measures; to assail; as, to assault a reputation or an administration.
Before the gates, the cries of babes newborn,...
Assault his ears.
In the latter sense, assail is more common.