hors de combat
[awr duh kawn-ba]
- out of the fight; disabled; no longer able to fight.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for hors de combat
Historical Examples
Fully one third of the troops which had paraded at dawn in full confidence of success were now hors-de-combat.
Ponce de LeonWilliam Pilling
Clouds of kites and troops of monkeys would speedily take such liberties with the fine wires as to place them hors-de-combat.
Curiosities of CivilizationAndrew Wynter
The fact that more than half of them were hors-de-combat showed how fiercely they had fought.
The Cornet of HorseG. A. Henty
hors de combat
- disabled or injured
Word Origin
literally: out of (the) fight
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for hors de combat
1757, French, literally "out of combat."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper