combat
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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Military. active, armed fighting with enemy forces.
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a fight, struggle, or controversy, as between two persons, teams, or ideas.
noun
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a fight, conflict, or struggle
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an action fought between two military forces
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( as modifier )
a combat jacket
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a fight between two individuals; duel
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fighting at close quarters
verb
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(tr) to fight or defy
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(intr; often foll by with or against) to struggle or strive (against); be in conflict (with)
to combat against disease
Usage
What does combat mean? Combat is most commonly used in a military context to refer to active fighting among opposing armies. To engage in combat is to engage in fighting. This kind of combat most commonly takes place on a battlefield or warzone on the ground (called a combat zone). Aerial combat involves fighting in the air among air forces. Hand-to-hand combat involves close fighting, often literally with one’s hands. Combat is often used as a modifier (adjective) in terms that refer to things related to or involving combat, such as combat training, combat medic, combat fatigue, and combat boots. Combat is sometimes used more broadly or figuratively to refer to active conflict between two people or groups, as in The two corporations are preparing to do combat in the courtroom. The term verbal combat refers to fighting with words. Combat is also commonly used as a verb meaning to oppose or work to defeat. It’s especially used when the thing to be defeated is intangible or abstract, as in We need to combat climate change or Our organization works to combat poverty. The figurative senses of the verbs fight and battle are close synonyms of this sense of combat. The sides engaging in combat can be called combatants. The adjective combative means inclined to fight. Example: The objective of basic training is to prepare our soldiers for combat.
Related Words
See fight
Other Word Forms
- combatable adjective
- combater noun
- intercombat noun
- precombat noun
- self-combating adjective
- uncombatable adjective
- uncombated adjective
Etymology
Origin of combat
First recorded in 1535–45; from Middle French combat (noun), combattre (verb), from Late Latin combattere, from Latin com- com- + Late Latin battere, from Latin battuere “to strike, beat”
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.
The legislation does not foresee an increase in the size of France's armed forces, which remains at 210,000 active-duty personnel, 225 combat aircraft and 15 first-rate frigates.
From Barron's • Apr. 8, 2026
Trump has also pressured his Mexican counterpart, Claudia Sheinbaum, to do more to combat Mexico-based criminal groups such as the CJNG.
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026
Taking and holding territory still requires close combat, and to advance rapidly you need mobile, protected firepower.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026
It uses “ultrasonic vibration technology,” Xie said, to help the skin absorb the applied moisturizing cream and combat eye puffiness.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026
Three days after her arrival at Stalingrad, Lilya Litvyak had become the first woman in the world to shoot down enemy combat aircraft on her own—not one, but two in the same flight.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
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.
