Antonyms of verb attack

1 of 6 senses of attack

Sense 1
attack, assail -- (launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with; "Hitler attacked Poland on September 1, 1939 and started World War II"; "Serbian forces assailed Bosnian towns all week")
       Antonym of defend (Sense 2)
      => defend -- (be on the defensive; act against an attack)

Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of verb attack

6 senses of attack

Sense 1
attack, assail -- (launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with; "Hitler attacked Poland on September 1, 1939 and started World War II"; "Serbian forces assailed Bosnian towns all week")
       => contend, fight, struggle -- (be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight; "the tribesmen fought each other"; "Siblings are always fighting"; "Militant groups are contending for control of the country")

Sense 2
attack, round, assail, lash out, snipe, assault -- (attack in speech or writing; "The editors of the left-leaning paper attacked the new House Speaker")
       => knock, criticize, criticise, pick apart -- (find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws; "The paper criticized the new movie"; "Don't knock the food--it's free")

Sense 3
attack, aggress -- (take the initiative and go on the offensive; "The Serbs attacked the village at night"; "The visiting team started to attack")
       => act, move -- (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action); "think before you act"; "We must move quickly"; "The governor should act on the new energy bill"; "The nanny acted quickly by grabbing the toddler and covering him with a wet towel")

Sense 4
assail, assault, set on, attack -- (attack someone physically or emotionally; "The mugger assaulted the woman"; "Nightmares assailed him regularly")

Sense 5
attack -- (set to work upon; turn one's energies vigorously to a task; "I attacked the problem as soon as I got out of bed")
       => get down, begin, get, start out, start, set about, set out, commence -- (take the first step or steps in carrying out an action; "We began working at dawn"; "Who will start?"; "Get working as soon as the sun rises!"; "The first tourists began to arrive in Cambodia"; "He began early in the day"; "Let's get down to work now")

Sense 6
attack -- (begin to injure; "The cancer cells are attacking his liver"; "Rust is attacking the metal")
       => affect -- (act physically on; have an effect upon; "the medicine affects my heart rate")

Antonyms of adj attacking

1 sense of attacking

Sense 1
assaultive, attacking (prenominal) -- (disposed to attack)

INDIRECT (VIA offensive) -> defensive -- (intended or appropriate for defending against or deterring aggression or attack; "defensive weapons"; "a defensive stance")

Similarity of adj attacking

1 sense of attacking

Sense 1
assaultive, attacking (prenominal) -- (disposed to attack)
       => offensive (vs. defensive) -- (for the purpose of attack rather than defense; "offensive weapons")