"Felonious Assault"
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Not every attack can be defined as a felonious assault.
Simple assault, in which the attacker is unarmed and any
actual attack does not result in serious injury, is only a
misdemeanor, and the legal penalties for simple assault
generally are far less severe. On the other hand, an
attacker who deliberately seeks to kill is guilty of murder or
at least attempted murder.

Felonious assault can include other crimes that do not fit
neatly into this broad definition. Attackers who cause a
serious injury can be guilty of felonious assault even if
they were unarmed. Most forms of sexual assault are
classified as felonies as well. Attacks against infants and
small children are usually classified as felonies without
requiring that an attacker be armed, and in some
jurisdictions, an actual or threatened unarmed attack
against a pregnant woman might constitute felonious
assault against the unborn child as well as the mother.
Some jurisdictions have taken the concept of assault
beyond the simple physical attack and have ruled that
certain communicable diseases such as Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune
Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) are dangerous weapons,
meaning that those who fail to disclose a positive
diagnosis of AIDS or HIV to a sexual partner might be
guilty of felonious assault.