assault – The threat or attempt to strike another, whether successful or not, provided the target is aware of the danger. The assaulter must be reasonably capable of carrying through the attack.
assault and battery – The combination of the two crimes of threat (assault) and actual beating (battery). They are both also intentional civil wrongs for which the party attacked may file a suit for damages.
Assault and battery is the combination of two violent crimes: assault (the threat of violence) and battery (actual physical violence). This legal distinction exists only in jurisdictions that distinguish assault as threatened violence rather than actual violence.