The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word ATTACK
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
A
T
T
A
C
K
More clues leading to the result ATTACK
- Strike at fixing pin
- Cheers up, on course to get fit
- Military volunteers sent north nail assault
- Criticise a sailor’s course in sound
- Go for a riding harness one’s heard of on radio
- Sally picked up a drawing pin
- What may sound like a plan for military action
- Belligerent act from America’s leader: time to change course
- Criticism at change of course
- Try to get fit
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Belligerent act" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case belligerent act = attack.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does ATTACK mean?
ATTACK noun- An attempt to cause damage, injury to, or death of opponent or enemy.
- An attempt to detract from the worth or credibility of, a person, position, idea, object, or thing, by physical, verbal, emotional, or other assault.
- A time in which one attacks; the offence of a battle.
- (by extension) The beginning of active operations on anything.
- An attempt to exploit a vulnerability in a computer system.
- Collectively, the bowlers of a cricket side.
- Any contact with the ball other than a serve or block which sends the ball across the plane of the net.
- The three attackmen on the field or all the attackmen of a team.
- The sudden onset of a disease or condition.
- An active episode of a chronic or recurrent disease.
- The onset of a musical note, particularly with respect to the strength (and duration) of that onset.
- (audio) The amount of time it takes for the volume of an audio signal to go from zero to maximum level (e.g. an audio waveform representing a snare drum hit would feature a very fast attack, whereas that of a wave washing to shore would feature a slow attack).
- To apply violent force to someone or something.
- To aggressively challenge a person, idea, etc., with words (particularly in newspaper headlines, because it typesets into less space than "criticize" or similar).
- To begin to affect; to act upon injuriously or destructively; to begin to decompose or waste.
- To deal with something in a direct way; to set to work upon.
- To aim balls at the batsman’s wicket.
- To set a field, or bowl in a manner designed to get wickets.
- To bat aggressively, so as to score runs quickly.
- To move forward in an active attempt to score a point, as opposed to trying not to concede.
- To accelerate quickly in an attempt to get ahead of the other riders.