attacker

noun

at·​tack·​er ə-ˈta-kər 

plural attackers

1

: one that makes an attack against another : one that attacks someone or something

There were narrow passageways and rooms everywhere, and facing the outside were gunports, from which the defenders of the castle could repel attackers.

—Sidney Sheldon, The Sands of Time, 1988

He's just been mugged in Central Park and she's frightened off his attackers with her tennis racquet.

—Ross Wetzsteon, Saturday Review, August 1981

A harassed cat may be undecided about whether to run from its attacker or stand and fight.

—Suzanne Hetts, Cat Fancy, January 1994

The fact that Agnew lashed back at his attackers in the press—and Mr. Nixon has not—did not go unnoticed in the White House.

—Roland Evans and Robert Novak, The Day, (New London, Connecticut), 10 Aug. 1973

Even if you've set a password, an enterprising attacker can just attack it with a cracking program.

—Bill Machrone, PC Magazine, 14 Dec. 1999

2

sports : a player in a team sport (such as soccer or lacrosse) assigned to an offensive position

… "dead-ball situations," when the ball is kicked from a fixed mark, and attackers and defenders dispose themselves to deal with it accordingly.

—Pete Davies, Twenty-Two Foreigners in Funny Shorts, 1994

Word History

Etymology

attack entry 1 + -er entry 2

First Known Use

1664, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Rhymes for attacker

• backpacker
• linebacker
• nutcracker
• acker
• backer
• blacker
• cracker
• hacker
• lacquer
• packer
• slacker
• stacker