fighter
Americannoun
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a boxer; pugilist.
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Military. an aircraft designed to seek out and destroy enemy aircraft in the air and to protect bomber aircraft.
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a person who fights, struggles, resists, etc.
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a person with the will, courage, determination, ability, or disposition to fight, struggle, resist, etc.
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an animal, as a dog, trained to fight or having the disposition to fight.
noun
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a person who fights, esp a professional boxer
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a person who has determination
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military an armed aircraft designed for destroying other aircraft
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fighter
before 1000; Middle English; Old English fēohtere. See fight, -er 1
Explanation
Someone who battles or brawls with other people is a fighter. Some fighters, like boxers, do it professionally, while others just have a tendency to fight. If you have a habit of getting into scuffles or fistfights, you're a fighter, and when you watch a boxing match, you might pick one of the two fighters to root for. An animal might also be described as a fighter: lions are natural fighters, and a fish struggling hard on the end of a hook is a fighter. Other fighters work heroically for a belief or ideal: "She was a fighter in the struggle for civil rights."
Vocabulary lists containing fighter
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.
Taiwan has spent many billions of dollars buying fighter jets, high-tech missiles and drones from the United States to bolster its defences against a potential attack from China.
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
And the rise of physical AI applications, such as robots, promises to accelerate demand for the materials used in everything from iPhones to fighter jets.
From Barron's • May 18, 2026
British fighter jets in the Middle East will be equipped with new missile systems to make it cheaper to intercept Iranian drones.
From BBC • May 17, 2026
“It’s about giving the power back to the fighters and reminding people that we are the essence of this sport, not a brand or a belt,” said the 39-year-old fighter.
From Los Angeles Times • May 16, 2026
Tamara didn’t often fly along when the 586th was given assignments, either because of her leg injury or because she wasn’t familiar with the high-performance Yak-1 fighter aircraft.
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.
