From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishassassinationas‧sas‧sin‧a‧tion /əˌsæsəˈneɪʃən $ əˌsæsənˈeɪ-/ ●○○ noun [countable, uncountable] KILLthe act of murdering an important personassassination of the assassination of Anwar Sadat He narrowly escaped an assassination attempt (=when someone tries but fails to kill someone else). → character assassination at character(6)
Examples from the Corpus
assassination• There was tension-Gligorov survived an assassination attempt-but no fighting.• In December 1989 he had survived a car-bomb assassination attempt in Cairo.• His assassination was predictable, although how the murderer passed by the android security guards had yet to be explained.• Three foreign diplomats have been killed in a series of assassinations.• This was Antonio Lozano Gracias, whose appointment as attorney general Zedillo hoped would give the assassination investigations credibility.• Flowers were laid to commemorate the anniversary of the assassination of John Lennon• The assassination of Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo led to the First World War.• the assassination of Lincolnassassination attempt• There was shouting, the kind of confused commotion that usually attends an assassination attempt.• He was badly wounded in an assassination attempt in 1996.• Reagan was wounded in an assassination attempt in 1981.• There was tension-Gligorov survived an assassination attempt-but no fighting.• In December 1989 he had survived a car-bomb assassination attempt in Cairo.• It was the scene of a failed assassination attempt on the royal couple at a charity concert nine years ago.• Within five years, surviving numerous assassination attempts, he managed to convert thousands of Calvinists back to Catholicism.• Patricio Martnez survived the assassination attempt.• It was clear he had had nothing to do with the assassination attempt. 