Assail and assault are often used interchangeably, and while the verbs share common ground, there are subtle differences between them. In fact, the words have the same origin—from the Old French asilir (in turn from Latin), meaning to jump on—and both carry the definitions, (1) to attack with or as if with violent blows, (2) to attack verbally, and (3) to beset. Assault, however, is usually harsher. It’s often used in military or criminal contexts, where it almost always denotes acts of violence. Assail rarely denotes violence.
Examples
While a bevy of officials have assailed the proposed cap, the business community has come out to support it. [Scarsdale Patch]
Police are searching for a man who used a steel pipe to assault a Redan resident and smash the window of a car parked in the driveway. [Ballarat Courier]
In one fell swoop, Wal-Mart has addressed and disarmed three of the main brickbats that its opponents still use to assail the company. [Brand Channel]
The woman told authorities that Tawadros assaulted her several times in a storage room while her husband was picking up their two children. [LA Times]
It also led some oncologists to assail the ethics of the trial … [NY Times]France’s government says it has signed a deal to sell assault warships to Russia … [Bloomberg Businessweek].
