---
title: "Assault"
type: Legal Term
source: https://casebriefly.com/legal-terms/assault
---

# Assault

Assault is an intentional tort involving an act that creates a reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact with the plaintiff's person. Unlike battery, assault does not require actual physical contact — only the apprehension of it. Words alone are generally insufficient; there must be an overt act. The apprehension must be of imminent contact, and the defendant must have the apparent ability to carry out the threat.

## Related Terms

- battery
- false-imprisonment
- intentional-infliction-of-emotional-distress

## Related Cases

- manning-v-grimsley
- obrien-v-cunard

## Example

A person raises a fist and swings at another, missing by inches. The victim's reasonable apprehension of being struck constitutes an assault.

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Source: [Assault — CaseBriefly](https://casebriefly.com/legal-terms/assault)