Attacked

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  attacked \at*tacked"\ adj.
     affected by disease.
  
     Syn: infected.
          [WordNet 1.5]



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Attack \At*tack"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Attacked}; p. pr. & vb.
     n. {Attacking}.] [F. attaquer, orig. another form of attacher
     to attack: cf. It. attacare to fasten, attack. See {Attach},
     {Tack} a small nail.]
     1. To fall upon with force; to assail, as with force and
        arms; to assault. "Attack their lines." --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To assail with unfriendly speech or writing; to begin a
        controversy with; to attempt to overthrow or bring into
        disrepute, by criticism or satire; to censure; as, to
        attack a man, or his opinions, in a pamphlet.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To set to work upon, as upon a task or problem, or some
        object of labor or investigation.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. To begin to affect; to begin to act upon, injuriously or
        destructively; to begin to decompose or waste.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              On the fourth of March he was attacked by fever.
                                                    --Macaulay.
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              Hydrofluoric acid . . . attacks the glass. --B.
                                                    Stewart.
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     Syn: To {Attack}, {Assail}, {Assault}, {Invade}.
  
     Usage: These words all denote a violent onset; attack being
            the generic term, and the others specific forms of
            attack. To attack is to commence the onset; to assail
            is to make a sudden and violent attack, or to make
            repeated attacks; to assault (literally, to leap upon)
            is to attack physically by a had-to-hand approach or
            by unlawful and insulting violence; to invade is to
            enter by force on what belongs to another. Thus, a
            person may attack by offering violence of any kind; he
            may assail by means of missile weapons; he may assault
            by direct personal violence; a king may invade by
            marching an army into a country. Figuratively, we may
            say, men attack with argument or satire; they assail
            with abuse or reproaches; they may be assaulted by
            severe temptations; the rights of the people may be
            invaded by the encroachments of the crown.
            [1913 Webster]