commando
Americannoun
plural
commandos, commandoes-
(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
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.
The commandos question them briefly but make no arrests.
From BBC
He had been seriously injured on a commando course in January 2025 and ordered to pause and rehabilitate, but returned to duty after his recovery.
From BBC
It was not until ten years later that the US Navy's Seal Team Six commandos tracked down the al-Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, in a villa in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
From BBC
The Germans and other hijackers were shot dead when Israeli commandos liberated all but four of the 106 hostages in a legendary rescue mission.
He said he would personally oversee the next stage in the country’s history after Maduro was unseated in an audacious nighttime raid by American commandos.
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.
