DictionaryAI

combat

SayKOM-bat/ˈkɑmˌbæt/UK/ˈkɒmˌbæt/
As a verbkuhm-BAT

Verbcombats, combating, combated

2 meanings of combat

Practice

  1. 1
    battlenoununcountable
    Fighting, especially with weapons, or a struggle to defeat an opponent or achieve a goal.

    The troops engaged in fierce combat near the river.

    Hand-to-hand combat requires both strength and quick thinking.

    UsageCommon phrases: see combat (actually fight in a war), in combat, hand-to-hand combat.

  2. 2
    fight againstverbtransitive
    To fight against an enemy or opponent, or to take action to reduce or stop something harmful.

    The agency launched a campaign to combat online fraud.

    Communities came together to combat rising pollution.

    UsageMost often used of problems rather than people: combat crime, combat disease, combat the spread of something.

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Origin

English took it in the 16th century from Middle French combat, a noun made from the Old French verb combatre. That verb goes back through Vulgar Latin *combattere to Latin com- ('with') plus battuere ('to beat, strike').