different between declivity vs attack

English

Etymology

1610s, from French déclivité, from Latin declivitatem, d?cl?vit?s,from d?clivis (“a sloping downward”), from de (“down”) + cl?vus (“a slope”), from Proto-Indo-European *?leywo-, from Proto-Indo-European *?ley- (“to lean”) (English lean).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??kl?v?ti/

Noun

declivity (plural declivities)

1. (geomorphology) The downward slope of a hill; the downward slope of a curve.
   • 1780, Theodore Augustine Mann, A Treatise on Rivers and Canals, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Volume 69: For the Year 1779, Part II, 582,

     The velocity of flowing waters is very far from being in proportion to the quantity of declivity in their bed: […] .

   • 1809, Alexander Cumming, Observations on the Very Important and Contrary Effects which Carriage Wheels, with Rims of Cylindrical, and of Conical Shape, Have on the Roads, page 30,

     […] whoever takes the trouble of observing how the water runs longitudinally in the ruts on a convex road, although the declivity down the sides be incomparably greater than in the direction which it is compelled to take in the ruts, will soon see the propriety of constructing roads so as to have the water rim length-ways upon them, instead of attempting to gain a declivity, by making it run from the middle to the sides.

   • 1812, John Ainslie, Comprehensive Treatise on Land Surveying, page 117,

     […] a line was measured down the hill on the right of 420, and the angle of declivity is 23°, which shortens the line 33 links; […] .

   • 1908 [Charles Griffin & Company], John Harvard Biles, The Design and Construction of Ships, Volume I: Calculations and Strength, 2009, Europ?ischer Hochschulverlag (Salzwasser-Verlag), page 216,

     The declivity of the keel blocks varies slightly with the size of the vessel. The larger the vessel, the less the declivity.

2. A downward bend in a path.
3. (entomology) An inward curve of the exoskeleton of an insect, such as between body segments; a segment of an insect's body where the exoskeleton curves inward.
   • 1979, Entomology Circular, Issue 200, Part 366, Division of Plant Industry, page number not shown,

     Males of all species have more developed armature of the elytral declivity than females (Figs. S, 6, 8, 9, 11-14).

   • 2000, Barry Bolton, The Ant Tribe Dacetini, Volume 65, Issue 2, American Entomological Institute, page 500,

     Propodeum in profile with upper lobe of declivity elongate and narrow, subspiniform, almost as long as lower lobe.

Related terms

• declivital; acclivity

Translations

See also

• decline

References

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French attaque, derived from the verb attaquer, from Italian attaccare (“to join, attach”) (used in attaccare battaglia (“to join battle”)), from Frankish *stakka (“stick”). Doublet of attach.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US, General Australian) IPA^(key): /??tæk/, [??t?æk]
• Rhymes: -æk

Noun

attack (plural attacks)

1. An attempt to cause damage, injury to, or death of opponent or enemy.
2. An attempt to detract from the worth or credibility of, a person, position, idea, object, or thing, by physical, verbal, emotional, or other assault.

3. A time in which one attacks; the offence of a battle.

4. (informal, by extension) The beginning of active operations on anything.

   Having washed the plates from dinner, I made an attack on the laundry.

5. (computing) An attempt to exploit a vulnerability in a computer system.

   birthday attack; denial-of-service attack

6. (cricket) Collectively, the bowlers of a cricket side.
7. (volleyball) Any contact with the ball other than a serve or block which sends the ball across the plane of the net.

   Synonyms: hit, spike

8. (lacrosse) The three attackmen on the field or all the attackmen of a team.
9. (medicine) The sudden onset of a disease or condition.

10. An active episode of a chronic or recurrent disease.
11. (music) The onset of a musical note, particularly with respect to the strength (and duration) of that onset.

    Antonyms: decay, release

12. (audio) The amount of time it takes for the volume of an audio signal to go from zero to maximum level (e.g. an audio waveform representing a snare drum hit would feature a very fast attack, whereas that of a wave washing to shore would feature a slow attack).

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:attack

Hyponyms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

attack (third-person singular simple present attacks, present participle attacking, simple past and past participle attacked)

1. (transitive) To apply violent force to someone or something.

2. (transitive) To aggressively challenge a person, idea, etc., with words (particularly in newspaper headlines, because it typesets into less space than "criticize" or similar).
3. (transitive) To begin to affect; to act upon injuriously or destructively; to begin to decompose or waste.
   • 1866, Balfour Stewart, An Elementary Treatise on Heat

     Hydrofluoric acid […] attacks the glass.

4. (transitive) To deal with something in a direct way; to set to work upon.

5. (transitive, cricket) To aim balls at the batsman’s wicket.
6. (intransitive, cricket) To set a field, or bowl in a manner designed to get wickets.
7. (intransitive, cricket) To bat aggressively, so as to score runs quickly.
8. (soccer) To move forward in an active attempt to score a point, as opposed to trying not to concede.
9. (cycling) To accelerate quickly in an attempt to get ahead of the other riders.
10. (chemistry) (Of a chemical species) To approach a chemical species or bond in order to form a bond with it.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:attack

Translations

Further reading

• attack in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• attack in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• attack at OneLook Dictionary Search

Swedish

Etymology

From French attaque.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a?tak/

Noun

attack c

1. attack; an attempt to cause damage
2. attack; offense of a battle

Declension

Synonyms

• anfall

Related terms

• attackera

Derived terms

• hjärtattack

Anagrams

• tackat