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Hunt vs Attack - What's the difference?

hunt | attack |

As a proper noun hunt

is for a hunter (for game, birds etc).

As a noun attack is

an attempt to cause damage or injury to, or to somehow detract from the worth or credibility of, a person, position, idea, object, or thing, by physical, verbal, emotional, or other assault.

As a verb attack is

to apply violent force to someone or something.

hunt

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To chase down prey and (usually) kill it.
  • * Bible, Genesis xxvii. 5
  • Esau went to the field to hunt for venison.
  • * Tennyson
  • Like a dog, he hunts in dreams.
  • * 2010 , Backyard deer hunting: converting deer to dinner for pennies per pound (ISBN 1449084354), page 10:
  • State Wildlife Management Areas often offer licensed hunters the opportunity to hunt deer on public lands.
  • To try to find something; search.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
  • He after honour hunts , I after love.
  • * , chapter=1
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.}}
  • * 2004 , Prill Boyle, Defying Gravity: A Celebration of Late-Blooming Women (ISBN 1578601541), page 119:
  • My idea of retirement was to hunt seashells, play golf, and do a lot of walking.
  • * 2011 , Ann Major, Nobody's Child (ISBN 1459271939):
  • What kind of woman came to an island and stayed there through a violent storm and then got up the next morning to hunt seashells? She had fine, delicate features with high cheekbones and the greenest eyes he'd ever seen.
    The police are hunting for evidence.
  • To drive; to chase; with down'', ''from'', ''away , etc.
  • to hunt down a criminal
    He was hunted from the parish.
  • To use or manage (dogs, horses, etc.) in hunting.
  • * Addison
  • He hunts a pack of dogs.
  • To use or traverse in pursuit of game.
  • He hunts the woods, or the country.

    Derived terms

    * hunt where the ducks are * that dog won't hunt

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of hunting.
  • A hunting expedition.
  • An organization devoted to hunting, or the people belonging to such an organization (capitalized if the name of a specific organization).
  • Derived terms

    * treasure hunt

    attack

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An attempt to cause damage or injury to, or to somehow detract from the worth or credibility of, a person, position, idea, object, or thing, by physical, verbal, emotional, or other assault.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1913, author=
  • , title=Lord Stranleigh Abroad , chapter=4 citation , passage=“I came down like a wolf on the fold, didn’t I??? Why didn’t I telephone??? Strategy, my dear boy, strategy. This is a surprise attack , and I’d no wish that the garrison, forewarned, should escape. …”}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author= Mark Tran
  • , volume=189, issue=6, page=1, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Denied an education by war , passage=One particularly damaging, but often ignored, effect of conflict on education is the proliferation of attacks' on schools
  • A time in which one attacks. The offence of a battle.
  • (cricket) Collectively, the bowlers of a cricket side.
  • (volleyball) Any contact with the ball other than a serve or block which sends the ball across the plane of the net.
  • (lacrosse) The three attackmen on the field or all the attackmen of a team.
  • The sudden onset of a disease.
  • An active episode of a chronic or recurrent disease.
  • (music) The onset of a musical note, particularly with respect to the strength (and duration) of that onset.
  • (audio) The amount of time it takes for the volume of an audio signal to go from zero to maximum level (e.g. an audio waveform representing a snare drum hit would feature a very fast attack, whereas that of a wave washing to shore would feature a slow attack).
  • Synonyms

    * (volleyball) hit, spike * See also

    Antonyms

    * (music) decay, release

    Derived terms

    * attack is the best form of defence * pincer attack

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To apply violent force to someone or something.
  • This species of snake will only attack humans if it feels threatened.
  • To aggressively challenge a person, idea, etc., with words (particularly in newspaper headlines, because it typesets into less space than "criticize" or similar ).
  • She published an article attacking the recent pay cuts.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012
  • , date=June 3 , author=Nathan Rabin , title=TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Mr. Plow” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/19/1992) citation , page= , passage=In its God-like prime, The Simpsons attacked well-worn satirical fodder from unexpected angles, finding fresh laughs in the hoariest of subjects.}}
  • To begin to affect; to act upon injuriously or destructively; to begin to decompose or waste.
  • * Macaulay
  • On the fourth of March he was attacked by fever.
  • * B. Stewart
  • Hydrofluoric acid attacks the glass.
  • To deal with something in a direct way; to set to work upon.
  • We´ll have dinner before we attack the biology homework.
    I attacked the meal with a hearty appetite.
  • (cricket) To aim balls at the batsman’s wicket.
  • (cricket) To set a field, or bowl in a manner designed to get wickets.
  • (cricket) To bat aggressively, so as to score runs quickly.
  • (soccer) To move forward in an attempt to actively score point, as opposed to trying not to concede.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011
  • , date=October 15 , author=Michael Da Silva , title=Wigan 1 - 3 Bolton , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Six successive defeats had left them rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table but, clearly under instructions to attack from the outset, Bolton started far the brighter.}}

    Synonyms

    * See also