combat Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an engagement fought between two military forces
    armed combat.
  2. noun the act of fighting; any contest or struggle
    scrap; fighting; fight.
    • a fight broke out at the hockey game
    • there was fighting in the streets
    • the unhappy couple got into a terrible scrap
  3. verb battle or contend against in or as if in a battle
    battle.
    • The Kurds are combating Iraqi troops in Northern Iraq
    • We must combat the prejudices against other races
    • they battled over the budget

WordNet

Com"bat intransitive verb
Etymology
F. combattre; pref. com- + battre to beat, fr. L. battuere to strike. See Batter.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Combated; present participle & verbal noun Combating
Definitions
  1. To struggle or contend, as with an opposing force; to fight.
    To combat with a blind man I disdain. Milton.
    After the fall of the republic, the Romans combated only for the choice of masters. Gibbon.
Com"bat transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To fight with; to oppose by force, argument, etc.; to contend against; to resist.
    When he the ambitious Norway combated. Shak.
    And combated in silence all these reasons. Milton.
    Minds combat minds, repelling and repelled. Goldsmith.
    Syn. -- To fight against; resist; oppose; withstand; oppugn; antagonize; repel; resent.
Com"bat noun
Etymology
Cf. F. combat.
Definitions
  1. A fight; a contest of violence; a struggle for supremacy.
    My courage try by combat, if thou dar'st. Shak.
    The noble combat that 'twixt joy and sorrow was fought in Paulina. Shak.
  2. (Mil.) An engagement of no great magnitude; or one in which the parties engaged are not armies. Syn. -- A battle; engagement; conflict; contest; contention; struggle; fight, strife. See Battle, Contest.

Webster 1913