1
as in violations
the act of forcing a person to engage in sexual activity and especially intercourse
attended a class teaching women self-defense against assault
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in attacks
the act or action of setting upon with force or violence
was arrested for his assault of the bystander
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in rapes
to engage in sexual activity and especially intercourse with a person unwilling or unable to give consent
was registered as a sex offender after assaulting the victim
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in raids
to take sudden, violent action against
was found guilty of assaulting an officer enemy forces assaulted the city
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of assaults
U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Sep. 2025
These smears are contributing to our ICE law enforcement officers facing 1,000 percent increase in assaults against them.
—Nick Mordowanec, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Sep. 2025
Nearly three years later, the boys’ stepfather, who was working with the Army Criminal Investigation Division, called Burak and confronted him about the assaults, according to the brief.
—Julia Marnin, Miami Herald, 10 Sep. 2025
The plea comes nearly a year after 18 motorcycle gang members, including 16 from Missouri, were indicted in federal court in connection to a series of armed assaults on members of rival organizations.
—Caroline Zimmerman, Kansas City Star, 9 Sep. 2025
There were thefts and assaults in New York City, an uptick in domestic-violence calls from shelters, and robberies in a number of cities, including Chicago and Denver.
—Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
The pushing of the goalposts includes unappealing and snide assaults on basically anybody who ever said a negative word about Deen.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 6 Sep. 2025
Investigators later confirmed his DNA matched evidence from that case and others, including attacks in Okemos, Michigan, in 1994; Birmingham, Michigan, in 1995; and Columbus, Ohio, in 1997, as well as two assaults in Ventura in the early 1980s.
—Nour Rahal, Freep.com, 6 Sep. 2025
In August, Russia’s aerial assaults on Ukraine slowed markedly, with 4,288 projectiles raining down on Ukrainian cities, an average of 138 per day.
—Katya Soldak, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Noun
This coalesces and makes sense of the barrage of assaults designed to undermine Americans’ trust in our country, our Constitution and all the principles upon which it was built.
—U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Sep. 2025
These smears are contributing to our ICE law enforcement officers facing 1,000 percent increase in assaults against them.
—Nick Mordowanec, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Sep. 2025
Nearly three years later, the boys’ stepfather, who was working with the Army Criminal Investigation Division, called Burak and confronted him about the assaults, according to the brief.
—Julia Marnin, Miami Herald, 10 Sep. 2025
The plea comes nearly a year after 18 motorcycle gang members, including 16 from Missouri, were indicted in federal court in connection to a series of armed assaults on members of rival organizations.
—Caroline Zimmerman, Kansas City Star, 9 Sep. 2025
There were thefts and assaults in New York City, an uptick in domestic-violence calls from shelters, and robberies in a number of cities, including Chicago and Denver.
—Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
The pushing of the goalposts includes unappealing and snide assaults on basically anybody who ever said a negative word about Deen.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 6 Sep. 2025
Investigators later confirmed his DNA matched evidence from that case and others, including attacks in Okemos, Michigan, in 1994; Birmingham, Michigan, in 1995; and Columbus, Ohio, in 1997, as well as two assaults in Ventura in the early 1980s.
—Nour Rahal, Freep.com, 6 Sep. 2025
In August, Russia’s aerial assaults on Ukraine slowed markedly, with 4,288 projectiles raining down on Ukrainian cities, an average of 138 per day.
—Katya Soldak, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for assaults
Noun
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Raise the stakes for farmers There have been calls not just to hold farmers more accountable for H-2A violations, but also to reward the ones who comply with labor laws.—
Max Blau,
ProPublica,
16 Sep. 2025
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Moving too quickly without considering ethical implications can lead to biased algorithms or privacy violations.—
Andrew Dunn,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Democrats like Bell continue to defend Israel from progressive attacks.—
David Sivak,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
-
Terrorists expanded their use of the internet for a wide range of activities, including planning attacks, radicalization and recruitment, propaganda dissemination, and fundraising.—
Richard Frankel,
ABC News,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Lanier rapes Forsythe during a job interview, which O’Brien recounts in upsetting, unwavering detail.—
Jared Sullivan,
The Atlantic,
17 Oct. 2024
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Donald treats Ivana with similar contempt, and then rapes her.—
Richard Brody,
The New Yorker,
10 Oct. 2024
Verb
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Appalachian State’s victory at Michigan in 2007 remains the greatest example of what can happen when a good FCS team walks into your house and raids the fridge, and everything else, but leaves the dog.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
12 Sep. 2025
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Microsoft raids Google’s AI ranks Mustafa Suleyman, one of the founders of Google’s DeepMind, who is now head of Microsoft AI, is raiding his old company for talent, calling them personally on the phone with the promise that life at Microsoft has more of a startup vibe than Google does.—
Diane Brady,
Fortune,
7 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Since Missouri vanity plates have to follow the state obscenity law, a court would need to find that the state law violates the First Amendment.—
Eleanor Nash,
Kansas City Star,
10 Sep. 2025
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Further, the letter warned that Unwrapped violates Spotify's developer policy, which bans using the Spotify platform or any Spotify content to build machine learning or AI models.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Marcello steps in to guide her safely down the mountain, though their connection is quickly cut short when Emily storms off to confront Gabriel and end their relationship.—
Samantha Stutsman,
People.com,
26 Aug. 2025
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With a face as crimson as her hair, Ellen storms directly into her brother Colum’s (Séamus McLean Ross) office, demanding answers.—
Lincee Ray Published,
EW.com,
15 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Sunday’s strikes involved 823 drones and missiles and killed four people, including a mother and baby.—
Jeronimo Gonzalez,
semafor.com,
10 Sep. 2025
-
And a belief long voiced by many in the region of Israel’s intention to sabotage peace talks has only been fortified by Tuesday’s strikes.—
Paula Hancocks,
CNN Money,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Daniels steps up, but Wyatt is right there and forces Daniels to cut back right into Sorrell and Brooks, who split the sack for a loss of 2 yards.—
Matt Schneidman,
New York Times,
13 Sep. 2025
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Employers counter that the cost of providing what unions want adversely affects their competitiveness in other states and nations and forces them to raise prices, reduce employment or even leave California to remain solvent.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
13 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Assaults.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/assaults. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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