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Showing results for commando. Search instead for go commando.
Synonyms

commando

American  
[kuh-man-doh, -mahn-] / kəˈmæn doʊ, -ˈmɑn- /

noun

plural

commandos, commandoes

  1. (inWorld War II )

    1. any of the specially trained Allied military units used for surprise, hit-and-run raids against Axis forces.

    2. a member of any of these units.

  2. any military unit organized for operations similar to those of the commandos of World War II.

  3. 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

  1. go commando, to wear pants, shorts, a skirt, etc., with no underwear.

commando British  
/ kəˈmɑːndəʊ /

noun

    1. an amphibious military unit trained for raiding

    2. a member of such a unit

  2. the basic unit of the Royal Marine Corps

  3. (originally) an armed force raised by Boers during the Boer War

  4. (modifier) denoting or relating to a commando or force of commandos

    a commando raid

    a commando unit
"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

adverb

  1. informal to wear no underpants

"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

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.

One North Korean commando, captured during a daring 1968 mission to assassinate the South Korean president in Seoul, recalls the confusion he felt when first encountering Christianity.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026

"We later understood that there was a commando operation underway."

From Barron's • Mar. 7, 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

Hampden had assembled a crack team which—like one of those commando forces in the movies, made up of desperate fugitives, men with freedom to gain and nothing to lose—proved virtually invincible.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

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.