You searched for: “assassinate”
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)