assail

verb2

1. •
   To attack with harsh words or violent force.

   • Muggers assailed them as they entered an alley.
   • Our ears were assailed by her joyous efforts on her new saxophone.
2. •
   (figurative) To overcome or successfully argue against; defeat.

   • "Yes," he said, half musing to himself, "I knew it must exist: the one explanation that accounts for everything and cannot be assailed. We have reached the bed-rock of truth at last." — 1923