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
Fisher was was Britain's only female Royal Navy commando having completed a 13-week All Arms Commando Course.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
Mr. Talty’s representative commando, Helias Doundoulakis, was more Bond-like in his approach.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 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
You may remember the Groozby Twelve, our crack commando team.
From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin
In a world run by women, these daughter-retrieving commandoes would be at home.
From Slate ● Mar. 9, 2022
Dozens of U.S. commandoes landed outside Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi’s Syrian hideout and warned people in nearby homes to stay inside, U.S. officials said.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 3, 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
Out of the organization of these commandoes, with their field-commandants and field-cornets, has grown the common system of local government in the Dutch-settled districts of South Africa.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 2 "Camorra" to "Cape Colony" by Various
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
But as it crossed the Channel, commandos swooped.
From Barron's ● 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
Sunday's six-hour operation, which saw commandos fast-roping from a helicopter on to the tanker and was supported by the Royal Air Force, was the first of its kind carried out by UK armed forces.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
It was every little fairy’s dream that one day he would grow up to don the stealth-black jumpsuit of the Retrieval commandos.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
Definitions 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.
