Assault vs. Combat — What's the Difference?

An assault is the act of inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in criminal prosecution, civil liability, or both.

Combat (French for fight) is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (not using weapons).

Make a physical attack on

To oppose in battle; fight against.

A physical attack

To act or work in order to eliminate, curtail, or stop

A concerted attempt to do something demanding

To engage in fighting; contend or struggle.

A violent physical attack, as with blows.

Fighting, especially with weapons

A strong or cutting verbal attack.

Contention or strife

A military attack, such as one launched against a fortified area or place.

Of or relating to combat

The concluding stage of an attack in which close combat occurs with the enemy.

Intended for use or deployment in combat

An unlawful threat or attempt to do bodily injury to another.

A battle, a fight (often one in which weapons are used).

The act or an instance of unlawfully threatening or attempting to injure another.

A struggle for victory

Sexual assault.

(transitive) To fight; to struggle against.

The crime of rape.

(intransitive) To fight (with); to struggle for victory (against).

A rigorous or energetic effort to accomplish something difficult

To struggle or contend, as with an opposing force; to fight.

To make a violent assault upon; attack.

To fight with; to oppose by force, argument, etc.; to contend against; to resist.

To rape.

A fight; a contest of violence; a struggle for supremacy.

To attack verbally; criticize or denounce.

An engagement of no great magnitude; or one in which the parties engaged are not armies.

To harass or beset

An engagement fought between two military forces

To make an assault.

The act of fighting; any contest or struggle;

A violent onset or attack with physical means, for example blows, weapons, etc.

Battle or contend against in or as if in a battle;

A violent verbal attack, for example with insults, criticism, and the like

An attempt to commit battery: a violent attempt, or willful effort with force or violence, to do hurt to another, but without necessarily touching the person, such as by raising a fist in a threatening manner, or by striking at the person and missing.

The crime whose action is such an attempt.

An act that causes someone to apprehend imminent bodily harm (such as brandishing a weapon).

The tort whose action is such an act.

(fencing) A non-competitive combat between two fencers.

(transitive) To attack, physically or figuratively; to assail.

(transitive) To threaten or harass. en

A violent onset or attack with physical means, as blows, weapons, etc.; an onslaught; the rush or charge of an attacking force; onset; as, to make assault upon a man, a house, or a town.

A violent onset or attack with moral weapons, as words, arguments, appeals, and the like; as, to make an assault on the prerogatives of a prince, or on the constitution of a government.

An apparently violent attempt, or willful offer with force or violence, to do hurt to another; an attempt or offer to beat another, accompanied by a degree of violence, but without touching his person, as by lifting the fist, or a cane, in a threatening manner, or by striking at him, and missing him. If the blow aimed takes effect, it is a battery.

To make an assault upon, as by a sudden rush of armed men; to attack with unlawful or insulting physical violence or menaces.

To attack with moral means, or with a view of producing moral effects; to attack by words, arguments, or unfriendly measures; to assail; as, to assault a reputation or an administration.

Close fighting during the culmination of a military attack

A threatened or attempted physical attack by someone who appears to be able to cause bodily harm if not stopped

Thoroughbred that won the triple crown in 1946

The crime of forcing a woman to submit to sexual intercourse against her will

Attack someone physically or emotionally;

Force (someone) to have sex against their will;

Attack in speech or writing;