These words all mean to set upon violently or to do battle with. Attack , the most general term of this group, may be applied to any offensive action, but more narrowly means to begin hostilities: to attack an enemy encampment; The watchdog attacked a would-be burglar and drove him off. Attack , like all these words, is also used figuratively: The committee-man attacked the views of a colleague.

Assail and assault have the same etymological origins but differ in meaning. Assail means to attack violently and repeatedly, implying that victory depends not so much on the force or effectiveness of one’s attack but on one’s persistence and pertinacity. To be assailed is to be worn down, to have no respite: a man assailed by doubts. Assault typically suggests close physical contact and extreme violence, especially against one or a few people. Assault may be used as a euphemism for rape.

• They were assaulted by a gang of hoodlums not two streets from their home; The noise of car horns, jet planes, jackhammers, ambulance sirens, fire engines, trains, trams and helicopters assaults the ears of city dwellers.

Charge and storm both suggest a forceful assault on a fixed position. To charge is to make a violent onslaught or attack upon an enemy: The cavalry charged the hostile fort. But charge in this sense is most often used imperatively as a command. Storm means to take or try to take by force, with all the rush and fury of a storm : Seasoned veterans were picked to storm the difficult enemy position. Storm often conveys a feeling of desperation, an all-out effort to avert defeat and disaster.

Besiege means to surround or beset with an armed force in order to capture: to besiege a fortified city. In its figurative uses it is close to assail , but retains some of its basic sense of being hemmed in or enclosed rather than punished repeatedly: Besieged with fears, he decided to seek the aid of a psychiatrist.

Bombard means to assail with missiles, or, in figurative senses, with abusive words.

• The TV station was bombarded with complaints against a tasteless programme; A prominent clergyman assailed the executives who had permitted it to be shown, and in Parliament an Opposition member attacked the Government’s laxity in enforcing the broadcasting regulations.