ATTACKING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does attacking mean? 

• ATTACKING (adjective)
  The adjective ATTACKING has 1 sense:

1. disposed to attack

  Familiarity information: ATTACKING used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ATTACKING (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Disposed to attack

Synonyms:

assaultive; attacking

Similar:

offensive (for the purpose of attack rather than defense)

 Context examples 

Researchers didn't have a way to identify if a treatment was actually attacking the particular cells that are senescent, until now.

(Scientists Find Natural Product That Slows Aging, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Some bacteria can release toxins that provoke their neighbors into attacking each other, a tactic that could be exploited to fight infections.

(Bacteria Can 'Divide and Conquer' to Vanquish Their Enemies, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The goal of this treatment is to “reset” the immune system so that it will cease attacking the central nervous system.

(Immune System Reset May Halt Multiple Sclerosis Progression, NIH)

The newly discovered compound offers a novel approach for attacking many disease-causing viruses.

(Scientists Discover How Antiviral Gene Works, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

In autoimmune diseases, white blood cells become overactive, and instead of attacking bacteria and viruses, the immune system assaults various tissues in the body.

(Anti-inflammatory Drugs Also Fight Depression, Voanews)

By studying rodents, researchers showed that instead of attacking germs, some neutrophils may help heal the brain after an intracerebral hemorrhage, a form of stroke caused by ruptured blood vessels.

(Immune cells may heal bleeding brain after strokes, National Institutes of Health)

In three seconds nothing remained of the attacking party but the five who had fallen, four on the inside and one on the outside of the palisade.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

An innate tolerance that prevents the body from attacking native proteins and tissue.

(Immunologic Tolerance, NCI Thesaurus)

"Warm water circulation is attacking the undersides of these ice shelves at their most vulnerable points," said study co-author Karen Alley.

(Scientists describe how 'upside-down rivers' of warm water break Antarctica's ice shelf, Wikinews)

The inflammatory eye disorder autoimmune uveitis occurs when a person’s immune system goes awry, attacking proteins in the eye.

(In uveitis, bacteria in gut may instruct immune cells to attack the eye, NIH)