Meaning

Primary

To Attack

Alternatives

To Assault, To Assail

Word Type

transitive verb, ichidan verb

Explanation

You don't say "to aggression." When you do aggression on someone, you're probably doing something to hurt them in some way. This is an attack, making this word to attack. This refers to a planned attack, though. Think about what you're going to do. Plan it out. Then, 攻める!

Reading

せめる
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you:

To attack someone, use a celery () stick. Celery is not a deadly weapon but most people hate it, so it's perfect to casually attack someone, especially those who hate celery.

Context

Context Sentences

理屈は抜きにして、とりあえず攻めて攻めて攻めまくりました。

Setting all logic aside, I just attacked and attacked and attacked.

そのピッチャーはバッターを変化球で攻めることが多い。

That pitcher often assaults batters with curve balls.

Kanji Composition