Combat Meaning
/ˈkɒmˌbæt/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA battle, a fight (often one in which weapons are used).
nouna struggle for victory
Sentence Examples
Combat soldiers during peaceful moments like to reminisce of their halcyon days.
He was sent into combat.
There's nothing like close combat to test one's mettle.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The soldiers trained hard for hand-to-hand ____ in the harsh desert conditions.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The soldiers were trained for close-quarters ____.
Word Origin & History
16th century, borrowed from Middle French combat, deverbal from Old French combatre, from Vulgar Latin *combattere, from Latin com- (“with”) + battuere (“to beat, strike”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
""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;[…].""
— 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
"In less than eight weeks, five divisions of United States troops have moved into combat, some of them from bases more than 6,000 miles away. More men are on the way. Fighting in difficult country under every kind of hardship, American troops have held back overwhelming numbers of the communist invaders."
— 1950 September 1, Harry S. Truman, 0:56 from the start, in MP72-73 Korea and World Peace: President Truman Reports to the People, Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives Identifier: 595162:
"Conditions were horrendous aboard most British naval vessels at the time. Scurvy and other diseases ran rampant, killing more seamen each year than all other causes combined, including combat."
— 2012 March 26, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 87:
"President Donald Trump’s administration has made combating what it considers anti-Israel and antisemitic movements on college campuses a priority.
He signed an executive order during his second week in office to “combat antisemitism” in schools and on university campuses, and on February 3 announced the creation of a multiagency task force to carry out the mandate."
— 2025 March 10, Karina Tsui and Elizabeth Wolfe, “Department of Education investigating 60 colleges and universities over antisemitism claims”, in CNN:
"To combat with a blind man I disdain."
— 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The soldiers trained hard for hand-to-hand ____ in the harsh desert conditions.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The soldiers were trained for close-quarters ____.