sali-, salt-, -sili-, sult-, -salta-

1. To storm upon vigorously or violently: The troops are assailing the terrorists again.

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 and to abuse: As a politician, Thomas was always ready to assail his opponents 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 members of the audience were assailed by all of the conflicting arguments presented by the speakers. © ALL rights are reserved.

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Vulnerability to forceful assault or susceptibility to injury or physical violence: The assailability of women by muggers at night is very high in large cities.

Pertaining to something that cannot be defended or which is incapable of being defended: No matter how much the military tried to set up a proper defense, their assailable positions could not protect them from attacks by their enemies.

1. Someone who violently sets upon another person, usually causing physical injury: The assailant, Doug, was identified for the police by the man he had beaten.
2. People who strike, raid, or invade with violence to others: Mike and Jill were assailants who were arrested for committing burglary when they were caught leaving the house with the property of the people who lived there. © ALL rights are reserved.

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Invaded or attacked with violence: So many assailed communities are seen more and more in TV news broadcasts.

So many members of the assailed family were killed or seriously wounded by the bomb that was thrown into their house.

1. A physical or criminal assailment on a person or people; literally, leaping on: To the horror of the audience and viewers on TV, the assault by the lion on Jim, the trainer, took place in the middle of the circus act.

Rufus, the robber, was charged by the police with robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

2. A military raid or onslaught: The military forces were involved in assaults that lasted for several months.

1. To make a physical descent on a place or a person: The criminal, Louis, was convicted of assaulting and robbing Warren in the parking lot of the store.

Diana accused her next door neighbor of sexually assaulting her daughter.

2. To use violent force or to bombard someone or the senses with something undesirable or unpleasant: The ears of the people were assaulted by the loud music from the neighbor's apartment.
3. To carry out a military offensive against an enemy using weapons: The unit of special forces parachuted into the camp and assaulted the gang and rescued the hostages that were abducted by the criminals.

A legal term for a crime of threatening someone together with the act of physically hitting the person: When Mario and Leroy got into an argument in the bar, Mario said he would knock Leroy down and spit on him; then he actually kicked Leroy in the left knee which caused him to fall down on the floor and then Mario was arrested and charged with assault and battery by the police.

Someone who physically or verbally attacks other people or places: Carl, the assaulter in the audience, strongly criticized the politician's tax policies.

The people in the neighborhood were relieved to hear that Jack, the assaulter of their houses, was finally arrested by the police.

1. Tending or likely to begin hostilities: The psychologists, Dr. Black and Dr. Smith, determined that assaultive people often have abusive parents.
2. Someone who is extremely aggressive or forcefully assertive: Gary had a loud and assaultive style of playing that sometimes made the other players cautious.

1. Descriptive of a lack of a definite procedure or purpose and jumping from one thing to another: Mrs. Pyott's mind was full of desultorily unfocused thoughts regarding what to do with her classes next semester.

The politician, Mr. Swift, was going from one subject to another in a desultorily halfhearted way.

2. Pertaining to something which occurs randomly or occasionally: As a result of the poor economy, the fashionable clothing store has desultorily sold anything.

Unconnectedness; a passing from one thing to another without any organization or method: The desultoriness of the project committee resulted in more chaos than clarifications of their objectives.

1. Characterized by aimlessly fleeting from one thing to another: Mildred was talking in a desultory sequence by jumping from one idea to anther one in an illogical way.
2. Relating to a random, disorganized, or unmethodical way of doing something: Hans, the candidate, had a desultory conference with the reporters.

People were casually strolling in the park during the pleasant day in a desultory way.

3. Marked by a lack of a definite course, regularity, or purpose; jumping from one thing to another: When John was asked what his speech would be about, he could only come up with desultory ideas.

Daniel made a desultory effort to improve his tennis skills by playing for three hours on one day and then not playing again for several days.

4. A reference to being unconcerned and without having any particular arrangement: Yvonne scolded her son for throwing his clothes around on his bed in a desultory way. © ALL rights are reserved.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.

A seed pod that bursts or flies apart: There are some plants that throw their seeds out around their environment with a method called dissiliencies which take place when the seeds suddenly jump out of pods as if they were exploding.

A reference to the springing open with force, as some seed pods or capsules when they are ripe: Dissilient components of certain plants burst open with a kind of explosive action in order to spread their seeds around.