assault and batteryn. A criminal act involving both a threat of violence and actual physical contact with the victim.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.assault and battery n (Law) criminal law a threat of attack to another person followed by actual attack, which need amount only to touching with hostile intent Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014assault? and bat?tery n. Law. an assault with an actual touching or other violence upon another. [1580?90] Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.