To set upon with violent force

• pitch into

  • Go to Dictionary
• light into

  1. To attack physically.
  2. To attack verbally; scold.

  • Go to Dictionary
• strike

  1. To hit sharply, as with a hand, fist, weapon, or implement:
  2. To inflict (a blow).
  3. To penetrate or pierce:

  • Go to Dictionary
• storm

  1. An atmospheric disturbance manifested in strong winds accompanied by rain, snow, or other precipitation and often by thunder and lightning.
  2. A wind with a speed from 48 to 55 knots (55 to 63 miles per hour; 89 to 102 kilometers per hour), according to the Beaufort scale.
  3. A heavy shower of objects, such as bullets or missiles.

  • Go to Dictionary
• sail into

  • Go to Dictionary
• have at

  1. (idiomatic, archaic) To attack; to engage in combat with.

  • Go to Dictionary
• go at

  • Go to Dictionary
• fall on

  1. To experience; to suffer; to fall upon.

  • Go to Dictionary
• attack

  1. To set upon with violent force.
  2. To criticize strongly or in a hostile manner.
  3. To start work on with purpose and vigor:

  • Go to Dictionary
• assault

  1. A violent physical attack, as with blows.
  2. A strong or cutting verbal attack.
  3. A military attack, such as one launched against a fortified area or place.

  • Go to Dictionary
• assail

  1. To attack violently, as with blows or military force; assault.
  2. To attack verbally, as with ridicule or censure.
  3. To trouble or beset, as with questions or doubts.

  • Go to Dictionary
• aggress

  1. To initiate an attack, war, quarrel, or fight.

  • Go to Dictionary

To surround with hostile troops

• siege

  1. The surrounding and blockading of a city, town, or fortress by an army attempting to capture it.
  2. A prolonged period, as of illness:
  3. A seat, especially a throne.

  • Go to Dictionary
• invest

  1. To commit (money or capital) in order to gain a financial return:
  2. To spend or devote for future advantage or benefit:
  3. To devote morally or psychologically, as to a purpose; commit:

  • Go to Dictionary
• blockade

  1. The isolation of a nation, area, city, or harbor by hostile ships or forces in order to prevent the entrance and exit of traffic and commerce.
  2. The forces used to effect this isolation.
  3. To set up a blockade against:

  • Go to Dictionary
• besiege

  1. To surround with hostile forces:
  2. To crowd around; hem in:
  3. To harass or overwhelm, as with requests:

  • Go to Dictionary
• beleaguer

  1. To harass; beset:
  2. To surround with troops; besiege:

  • Go to Dictionary

To trouble persistently from or as if from all sides

• solicit

  1. To seek to obtain by persuasion, entreaty, or formal application:
  2. To petition persistently; importune:
  3. To commit the criminal offense of enticing or inciting (another) to commit an illegal act.

  • Go to Dictionary
• plague

  1. A highly infectious, usually fatal, epidemic disease; a pestilence.
  2. A virulent, infectious disease that is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis (syn. Pasteurella pestis ) and is transmitted primarily by the bite of fleas from an infected rodent, especially a rat. In humans it occurs in bubonic form, marked by lymph node enlargement, and in pneumonic form, marked by infection of the lungs, and can progress to septicemia.
  3. A widespread affliction or calamity seen as divine retribution.

  • Go to Dictionary
• pester

  1. To annoy persistently, as with repeated demands or questions.

  • Go to Dictionary
• importune

  1. To make an earnest request of (someone), especially insistently or repeatedly:
  2. To ask for (something) urgently or repeatedly.
  3. To annoy; vex.

  • Go to Dictionary
• hound

  1. A domestic dog of any of various breeds commonly used for hunting, characteristically having drooping ears, a short coat, and a deep resonant voice.
  2. A dog.
  3. A contemptible person; a scoundrel.

  • Go to Dictionary
• harry

  1. To disturb, distress, or exhaust by repeated demands or criticism; harass.
  2. To attack or raid, as in war:
  3. To force along, as by attacks or blows:

  • Go to Dictionary
• harass

  1. To subject (another) to hostile or prejudicial remarks or actions; pressure or intimidate.
  2. To irritate or torment persistently:
  3. To make repeated attacks or raids on (an enemy, for example).

  • Go to Dictionary
• besiege

  1. To surround with hostile forces:
  2. To crowd around; hem in:
  3. To harass or overwhelm, as with requests:

  • Go to Dictionary
• beleaguer

  1. To harass; beset:
  2. To surround with troops; besiege:

  • Go to Dictionary
• bedevil

  1. To torment mercilessly; plague.
  2. To worry, annoy, or frustrate.
  3. To possess with or as if with a devil; bewitch.

  • Go to Dictionary
• badger

  1. Any of several carnivorous burrowing mammals of the family Mustelidae, such as Meles meles of Eurasia or Taxidea taxus of North America, having short legs, long claws on the front feet, and a heavy grizzled coat.
  2. The fur or hair of any of these mammals.
  3. Any of several similar mammals, such as the ratel.

  • Go to Dictionary

To disturb by repeated attacks

• worry

  1. To feel uneasy or concerned about something; be troubled.
  2. To seize something with the teeth and bite or tear repeatedly:
  3. To touch or handle something nervously or persistently:

  • Go to Dictionary
• torment

  1. Great physical pain or mental anguish.
  2. A source of harassment, annoyance, or pain.
  3. The torture inflicted on prisoners under interrogation.

  • Go to Dictionary
• tease

  1. To make fun of (someone) playfully or taunt annoyingly:
  2. To say in a playful or mocking way:
  3. To provoke or irritate, as with physical movements:

  • Go to Dictionary
• plague

  1. A highly infectious, usually fatal, epidemic disease; a pestilence.
  2. A virulent, infectious disease that is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis (syn. Pasteurella pestis ) and is transmitted primarily by the bite of fleas from an infected rodent, especially a rat. In humans it occurs in bubonic form, marked by lymph node enlargement, and in pneumonic form, marked by infection of the lungs, and can progress to septicemia.
  3. A widespread affliction or calamity seen as divine retribution.

  • Go to Dictionary
• pester

  1. To annoy persistently, as with repeated demands or questions.

  • Go to Dictionary
• harry

  1. To disturb, distress, or exhaust by repeated demands or criticism; harass.
  2. To attack or raid, as in war:
  3. To force along, as by attacks or blows:

  • Go to Dictionary
• harass

  1. To subject (another) to hostile or prejudicial remarks or actions; pressure or intimidate.
  2. To irritate or torment persistently:
  3. To make repeated attacks or raids on (an enemy, for example).

  • Go to Dictionary
• beleaguer

  1. To harass; beset:
  2. To surround with troops; besiege:

  • Go to Dictionary
• bedevil

  1. To torment mercilessly; plague.
  2. To worry, annoy, or frustrate.
  3. To possess with or as if with a devil; bewitch.

  • Go to Dictionary
• bait

  1. Food or other lure placed on a hook or in a trap and used in the taking of fish, birds, or other animals.
  2. Something, such as a worm, used for this purpose.
  3. An enticement, temptation, or provocation:

  • Go to Dictionary
• annoy

  1. To cause irritation to (another); make somewhat angry.
  2. To harass or disturb by repeated attacks.

  • Go to Dictionary

To shut in on all sides

• surround

  1. To extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle:
  2. To enclose or confine on all sides so as to bar escape or outside communication:
  3. Something, such as fencing or a border, that surrounds:

  • Go to Dictionary
• ring

  1. A circular object, form, line, or arrangement.
  2. A small circular band, generally made of precious metal and often set with jewels, worn on the finger.
  3. A circular band used for carrying, holding, or containing something:

  • Go to Dictionary
• hem

  1. An edge or border on a piece of cloth, especially a finished edge, as for a garment or curtain, made by folding an edge under and stitching it down.
  2. The height or level of the bottom edge of a skirt, dress, or coat; a hemline.
  3. To fold back and stitch down the edge of.

  • Go to Dictionary
• hedge

  1. A row of closely planted shrubs or low-growing trees forming a fence or boundary.
  2. A line of people or objects forming a barrier:
  3. A means of protection or defense, especially against financial loss:

  • Go to Dictionary
• girdle

  1. A belt or sash worn around the waist.
  2. Something that encircles like a belt.
  3. An elasticized, flexible undergarment worn over the waist and hips to give the body a more slender appearance.

  • Go to Dictionary
• gird

  1. To encircle (a person or the part of the body) with a belt or band.
  2. To fasten or secure (clothing, for example) with a belt or band.
  3. To surround.

  • Go to Dictionary
• environ

  1. To encircle; surround:

  • Go to Dictionary
• encompass

  1. To form a circle or ring around; encircle.
  2. To enclose; envelop:
  3. To have as part of something larger; include:

  • Go to Dictionary
• encircle

  1. To form a circle around; surround:
  2. To move or go around completely; make a circuit of:

  • Go to Dictionary
• compass

  1. A device used to determine geographic direction, usually consisting of a magnetic needle or needles horizontally mounted or suspended and free to pivot until aligned with the earth's magnetic field.
  2. Another device, such as a radio compass or a gyrocompass, used for determining geographic direction.
  3. A V-shaped device for describing circles or circular arcs and for taking measurements, consisting of a pair of rigid, end-hinged legs, one of which is equipped with a pen, pencil, or other marker and the other with a sharp point providing a pivot about which the drawing leg is turned.

  • Go to Dictionary
• circle

  1. A plane curve everywhere equidistant from a given fixed point, the center.
  2. A planar region bounded by a circle.
  3. Something, such as a ring, shaped like such a plane curve.

  • Go to Dictionary
• begird

  1. To encircle with or as if with a band.

  • Go to Dictionary