(transitive) To attack with harsh words or violent force (also figuratively).
Muggers assailed them as they entered an alley.
Our ears were assailed by her joyous efforts on her new saxophone.
2007, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Wizard of the Crow, Nairobo: East African Educational Publishers, Book 2, Chapter 3, p. 64,
He did not like being in crowds, foul smells galore assailing his nostrils.