What does "combat" mean?

A battle, a fight (often one in which weapons are used).

What is a synonym for "combat"?

Common synonyms include: battle, fight, action, aerial combat, affray, all-out war.

Combat

//ˈkɑmˌbæt// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1
A battle, a fight (often one in which weapons are used). countable, uncountable
""My tastes," he said, still smiling, "incline me to the garishly sunlit side of this planet." And, to tease her and arouse her to combat: "I prefer a farandole to a nocturne; I'd rather have a painting than an etching; Mr. Whistler bores me with his monochromatic mud; I don't like dull colours, dull sounds, dull intellects;[…].""
2
an engagement fought between two military forces wordnet
3
a struggle for victory countable, uncountable
4
the act of fighting; any contest or struggle wordnet

Verb

1
To fight; to struggle against. transitive
"It has proven very difficult to combat drug addiction."
2
battle or contend against in or as if in a battle wordnet
3
To fight (with); to struggle for victory (against). intransitive
"To combat with a blind man I disdain."

Synonyms

All synonyms

battle fight action aerial combat affray all-out war

Example

More examples

"Combat soldiers during peaceful moments like to reminisce of their halcyon days."

Etymology

16th century, borrowed from Middle French combat, deverbal from Old French combatre, from Vulgar Latin *combattere, from Latin com- (“with”) + battuere (“to beat, strike”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.