attack
part of speech
verb (attack, attacks, attacked, attacking); noun (an attack, attacks)
meaning for a pupil
1) To attack means to try to hurt someone or something with force. tree →
2) In sports, to attack means to try to score. tree →
3) To attack also means to say strongly that something is bad. tree →
4) An attack is a sudden act of violence, or a sudden bout of illness, like an asthma attack or heart attack. tree →
sense in the lessons
In nature lessons, predators attack prey, and animals may attack when scared or protecting babies (so keep away from wild animals and leave dogs alone when they eat). In health, an asthma attack needs an inhaler and an adult. In football, the attack is the players trying to score. In history and stories, armies attack castles. Phrases: under attack, heart attack, asthma attack, panic attack, attack on.
examples
- The dog attacked the postman's bag. tree →
- Sharks rarely attack people. tree →
- Our team attacked and scored a goal. tree →
- She had an asthma attack and used her inhaler. tree →
- The castle was under attack. tree →
- A mother bear may attack if you come near her cubs. tree →
- Germs attack your body when you are ill. tree →
- He had a heart attack and went to hospital. tree →
- They immediately attacked the Mouse army in large numbers. tree →
note
Regular verb: attacked (not «attackted»). Opposite in sports and battles: defend. «Under attack» = being attacked. An asthma attack or heart attack is an emergency: get an adult and call for help.
In the corpora
- Some cancer treatments make hair fall out because they attack fast-growing cells; the hair usually grows back after treatment.
- Nobody is attacking us."
- Plane crashes and terror attacks are on the news because they are very rare; millions of flights land safely every day.
- Caimans rarely attack big grown capybaras, which are too big and alert, and the two often share river banks.
- Plants make bitter or poisonous chemicals after being attacked; a chewed tomato plant makes its leaves harder to digest.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «attack» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.