Assailant Meaning
/əˈseɪlənt/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounSomeone who attacks or assails another violently, or criminally.
nounA hostile critic or opponent.
Sentence Examples
Witnesses provided detailed descriptions of the assailant.
Tom tried to fight back his assailant.
Tom struggled with his assailant and managed to escape.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The police quickly arrested the ____ who attacked the woman.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The police are looking for the ____ who attacked the man in the park.
Word Origin & History
From Old French assaillant, from the verb assaillir, from Late Latin assalīre, from Latin ad (“to, towards”) + salīre (“to jump”). Equivalent to assail + -ant.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I’ll put myself in poor and mean attire,
And with a kind of umber smirch my face;
The like do you; so shall we pass along,
And never stir assailants."
— c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
"[…] commonly some of us used to get up a tree to look out for any assailant, or kidnapper, that might come upon us; for they sometimes took those opportunities of our parents absence to attack and carry off as many as they could seize."
— 1789, Olaudah Equiano, chapter 2, in The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, volume 1, London: for the author, page 47:
"[…] just as he leaned over to get the stick, I seized him with both hands by the collar, and, with a vigorous and sudden snatch, I brought my assailant harmlessly, his full length, on the not over clean ground—for we were now in the cow yard."
— 1855, Frederick Douglass, chapter 17, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York; Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […], →OCLC, part I (Life as a Slave), page 244:
"In the middle of a crowded street a young man would be attacked, stripped, thrashed, and left bleeding on the pavement; in fifteen seconds it was all over and the assailants had disappeared."
— 1935, Christopher Isherwood, chapter 8, in Mr. Norris Changes Trains, Penguin, published 1961, page 89:
"In the village of Aqraba, the Sheikh Saadeh Mosque was set on fire before the assailants graffitied the words “price tag” and “revenge” on its walls."
— 2018, Edo Konrad, “Living in the constant shadow of settler violence”, in +972 Magazine:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The police quickly arrested the ____ who attacked the woman.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The police are looking for the ____ who attacked the man in the park.