Exact historical dictionary sense
Attack in Webster's 1913 dictionary
The 1913 record labels attack as verb. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.
WEBSTER 1913verb
Attack
[F. attaquer, orig. another form of attacher to attack: cf. It. attacare to fasten, attack. See Attach, Tack a small nail.]
Cross-verified historical senseHeadwordattack
Part of speechverb
Historical etymology[F. attaquer, orig. another form of attacher to attack: cf. It. attacare to fasten, attack. See Attach, Tack a small nail.]
Selected historical definitionTo fall upon with force; to assail, as with force and arms; to assault.
Signed record IDwebster1913-attack-verb-76bec58cce59
Source locatorCIDE.A, paragraph 13653; Gutenberg eBook 660
Quick answer
In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "attack" is labeled verb. Its etymology is recorded as: "[F. attaquer, orig. another form of attacher to attack: cf. It. attacare to fasten, attack. See Attach, Tack a small nail.]" The selected historical definition says: "To fall upon with force; to assail, as with force and arms; to assault."