vail(4) (iou) and attack(2) (iou)

vail(4) (iou)

vail verb2. arch. Orig. vale. ME.
[Aphet. from AVALE.]
I. verb trans.
Cause or allow to go down or drop; esp. lower (a weapon or banner, the eyes or head, a sail, etc.) as a sign of submission or respect. ME.
F. Quarles What dire disaster bred This change, that thus she vails her golden head? J. Keble Go..teach proud Science where to vail her brow.
Take off (one's hat, crown, plumes, etc.) as a sign of submission or respect. LME.
vail bonnet, vail one's bonnet, vail the bonnet fig. show respect or submission, acknowledge defeat or inferiority.
fig. Humble, yield, (one's pride, heart, courage, etc.); submit or subject (one thing) to (another). L16.
Joseph Hall No reason why you should vail your owne just advantage to another mans excesse.
II. verb intrans.
Fall (down); descend. LME-E17.
Nautical. Lower the sail. E16-M17.
Of a hat: be taken off as a sign of submission or respect. rare. M16.
Take off one's hat (to a person etc.) as a sign of respect. L16.
fig. Submit, yield, or give way to. E17.
L. Murray They all vail to the English idiom, and scruple not to acknowledge its superiority.
b. Do homage to a person. rare (Shakes.). Only in E17.

attack(2) (iou)

attack verb. E17.
[French attaquer from Italian attaccare join (battle), ATTACH verb.]
I. verb trans.
Act against with violence or force of arms; seek to kill or injure. E17.
W. S. Churchill 673 horsemen, led by Lord Cardigan, rode up the valley under heavy fire..to attack the Russian batteries. D. Morris Killers [whales] prefer to attack aquatic mammals such as dolphins, porpoises, seals, [etc.]. E. Caldwell Several teen-age girls and young women had been attacked by a nighttime prowler. fig.: R. G. Collingwood I was attacked by a strange succession of emotions.
Of disease: begin to affect; seize upon, afflict. E17.
F. A. Kemble Rheumatism..attacks indiscriminately the young and old.
Act against with hostile words or actions. M17.
Milton Under colour of a pretended partie..the Parliament is attaqued. G. Greene There were speakers out on the Common: the I.L.P. and the Communist Party,..a man attacking Christianity.
Chess. Attempt to gain a positional advantage in relation to (a piece or square); threaten to give checkmate to or capture (a man). M18.
Sports & Games. Attempt to gain a scoring or Other significant advantage over (an opponent); attempt to score points, goals, etc., against (an opponent) or in (a particular goal etc.). L18.
Of a physical agent: act harmfully upon, begin to destroy; corrode, dissolve. L18.
B. Stewart Hydrofluoric acid..attacks the glass where the wax has been scratched off.
Begin vigorous work on (a task etc.); Music begin (a piece, passage, etc.), esp. decisively or confidently. E19.
Shelley Mrs. Shelley is attacking Latin with considerable resolution. H. C. Schonberg Notes of scales could not have been more evenly matched..; chords could not be attacked more precisely.
II. verb intrans.
Make or begin an attack; take the offensive; Chess attempt to checkmate, to gain a positional advantage, or to capture an opposing man; Sports & Games attempt to gain a scoring or Other significant advantage, be in possession of the ball, puck, etc. E17.
Donne Ere sicknesses attack, yong death is best. A. J. P. Taylor On 8 August the British attacked in front of Amiens, in order to protect the railway junction there. Times Kent attacked with fire and fury and it seemed impossible that they should fail to score.
attackable adjective E19.
attacker noun a person who attacks; an assailant; an attacking player: M17.

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