commando
Americannoun
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commandos,
plural
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commandoes
plural
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(inWorld War II )
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any of the specially trained Allied military units used for surprise, hit-and-run raids against Axis forces.
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a member of any of these units.
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any military unit organized for operations similar to those of the commandos of World War II.
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a member of a military assault unit or team trained to operate quickly and aggressively in especially urgent, threatening situations, as against terrorists holding hostages.
idioms
noun
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an amphibious military unit trained for raiding
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a member of such a unit
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the basic unit of the Royal Marine Corps
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(originally) an armed force raised by Boers during the Boer War
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(modifier) denoting or relating to a commando or force of commandos
a commando raid
a commando unit
adverb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of commando
First recorded in 1785–95; from Afrikaans kommando “raid, raiding party, a unit of militia,” from Portuguese commando “unit commanded,” noun derivative of commandar “to command ”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Baracus, an ex-Army commando fugitive, and as a professional wrestler with the World Wrestling Federation through the late 1980s, Mr. T is also known for his charitable contributions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Sri Lanka's police kennels department was mobilised to ensure that local street dogs did not attack Aloka, who was led on a leash held by an army commando.
From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026
Labuschagne, an ex-South African commando, founded Warm Heart Initiative in response to the clashes that followed the translocation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
Now, nearly four decades after Arnold Schwarzenegger’s commando Dutch Schaefer survived his encounter with a Yautja – long before anyone knew that’s what they were called – “Predator: Badlands” makes one of them the hero.
From Salon ● Nov. 12, 2025
“Oh, really. You have new orders from the commando, I suppose.”
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
On the way, he connected with another retired general and a group of commandoes.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 9, 2023
In a world run by women, these daughter-retrieving commandoes would be at home.
From Slate ● Mar. 9, 2022
He and several other residents, and a security official, said Afghan commandoes had launched an operation to clear the insurgents from the city.
From Reuters ● Aug. 9, 2021
"Six-hundred men - military; they had army, commandoes, Royal Air Force, bloodhounds, Anson planes - and they still failed to find the twins."
From BBC ● May 25, 2018
In the beginning of November, 1899, the commandoes of Rouxville, Smithfield, and Bethulie entered the Cape Colony at different points.
From In the Shadow of Death by P. H. Kritzinger
Royal Marine commandos providing security at Wimbledon would like "nothing more than to sort out" disruptive social media influencers at the prestigious tournament, its chief executive has joked.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Video taken after Jando’s arrest shows him being escorted in handcuffs by a squad of Mexican commandos.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
“Whereas before, I don’t know if I’m going to get hit with some balcony assessment that these condo commandos are hiding.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
President Emmanuel Macron posted a video of the seizure, which showed commandos rappelling from a helicopter onto the ship.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
When everything was ready, thirty-four British commandos would fly in on gliders, land, and set out for the plant.
From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
