100% correct
Then I am failing to understand sumpin'!
as·sault (ə-sôlt')
n.
A violent physical or verbal attack.
A military attack, such as one launched against a fortified area or place.
The concluding stage of an attack in which close combat occurs with the enemy.
Law.
An unlawful threat or attempt to do bodily injury to another.
The act or an instance of unlawfully threatening or attempting to injure another.
Law. Sexual assault.
The crime of rape.
v., -sault·ed, -sault·ing, -saults.
v.tr.
To make an assault upon; attack. See synonyms at attack.
To rape.
v.intr.
To make an assault.
[Middle English assaut, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *assaltus, variant of Latin assultus, from past participle of assilīre, to jump on. See assail.]
as·sault'er n.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Now, the way I understand that lil' lot is that an assault can be a verbal offence, a military assault on say a battery of guns would be an actual physical attack; and a legal assualt can be either the actual or threatened attack; or indeed a sexual attack. In short, assault can be an attack enacted in words, threat, or actions.
