You searched for: “assail”
assail (verb), assails; assailed; assailing
1. To attack vigorously or violently: "The troops are assailing the terrorists."

"It is difficult to believe that Mike could be assailed by so many bad things; he lost his job, his wife became very ill, and the roof of his house was damaged by a storm that caused severe leaks when it started to rain."

2. To attack with arguments, criticism, ridicule, to abuse, etc.: "As a politician, Thomas was always ready to assail his opponent with slander."
3. To undertake a task with the purpose of mastering it: "Joanne assailed her university studies with new determination."
4. To impinge upon; to make an impact on; to beset: "The minds of the audience were assailed by all of the conflicting arguments presented by the speakers."
This entry is located in the following unit: sali-, salt-, -sili-, sult-, -salta- (page 1)
assassinate, assail, assault, assault
assassinate (uh SAS uh nayt") (verb)
To murder (a prominent person) with a surprise attack, often for political reasons: "Someone did indeed assassinate President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, in 1963."
assail (uh SAYL) (verb)
To attack with or as if with violent blows: "A mugger tried to assail James on the dark street as he was walking home."
assault (uh SALT) (noun)
A violent physical or verbal attack: "Stacy was wanted by the police for assault because she attacked a man with her umbrella."
assault (uh SALT) (verb)
To attack with or as if with violent blows: "Paul was heard to verbally assault one of his co-workers."

It seems to be a bit unfair that the newspapers referred to the attempted shooting of a famous man as an attempt to assassinate him. Ordinary people have to be satisfied with being subject to an assault by someone attempting to assail them.

This entry is located in the following units: Confusing Words Clarified: Group A; Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs, Synonyms, Polysemes, etc. + (page 8) sali-, salt-, -sili-, sult-, -salta- (page 1)