From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishaccostac‧cost /əˈkɒst $ əˈkɒːst, əˈkɑːst/ verb [transitive] written TALK TO somebodyto go towards someone you do not know and speak to them in an unpleasant or threatening way He was accosted by four youths and forced to give them all his money.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
accost• One black professor was verbally accosted by a white student.• They were accosted by three white youths who taunted and then attacked them.• Two men accosted her in front of her apartment building.• No one was near enough to accost her or wonder about her presence.• A white-faced Mathilda sped by me in the gallery but Benjamin was shouting for me so I decided not to accost her.• No one other than herself pursued or accosted Ruth.Origin accost (1500-1600) French accoster, from Latin costa “rib, side” 