combat

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: com=bat

CIDE DICTIONARY

combat, v. i. [F. combattre; pref. com- + battre to beat, fr. L. battuere to strike. See Batter.].

 To struggle or contend, as with an opposing force; to fight.  [1913 Webster]
"To combat with a blind man I disdain."  [1913 Webster]
"After the fall of the republic, the Romans combated only for the choice of masters."  [1913 Webster]

combat, v. t. 

 To fight with; to oppose by force, argument, etc.; to contend against; to resist.  [1913 Webster]
"When he the ambitious Norway combated."  [1913 Webster]
"And combated in silence all these reasons."  [1913 Webster]
"Minds combat minds, repelling and repelled."

Syn. -- To fight against; resist; oppose; withstand; oppugn; antagonize; repel; resent.

combat, n. [Cf. F. combat.].

•  A fight; a contest of violence; a struggle for supremacy.  [1913 Webster]

  "My courage try by combat, if thou dar'st."  [1913 Webster]

  "The noble combat that 'twixt joy and sorrow was fought in Paulina."  [1913 Webster]
•  An engagement of no great magnitude; or one in which the parties engaged are not armies.  [1913 Webster]

Single combat, one in which a single combatant meets a single opponent, as in the case of David and Goliath; also, a duel.

Syn. -- A battle; engagement; conflict; contest; contention; struggle; fight, strife. See Battle, Contest.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

combat, n. & v.
--n. a fight, struggle, or contest.
--v. (combated, combating)
1 intr. engage in combat.
2 tr. engage in combat with.
3 tr. oppose; strive against.

Idiom

combat fatigue a mental disorder caused by stress in wartime combat. single combat a duel.

Etymology

F combat f. combattre f. LL (as COM-, L batuere fight)

THESAURUS

combat

Kilkenny cats, action, aerial combat, affray, all-out war, altercation, antagonize, appeal to arms, argument, armed combat, armed conflict, armored combat, attack, battle, battle royal, beat against, beat up against, belligerence, belligerency, bickering, bloodshed, box, brawl, breast the wave, broil, brush, buck, buffet, buffet the waves, bullfight, cat-and-dog life, clash, clash of arms, close, close with, cockfight, collide, come to blows, compete with, conflict, confrontation, contend, contend against, contention, contentiousness, contest, contestation, controversy, cut and thrust, debate, defy, difference, disagreement, disputation, dispute, do battle, dogfight, duel, embroilment, encounter, engagement, enmity, exchange blows, exchange of blows, fence, feud, fight, fight a duel, fight against, fighting, fire fight, fray, give and take, give satisfaction, grapple, grapple with, ground combat, hand-to-hand combat, hand-to-hand fight, hostilities, hostility, hot war, house-to-house combat, join battle with, jostle, joust, la guerre, labor against, litigation, logomachy, might of arms, military operations, militate against, mix it up, naval combat, offer resistance, open hostilities, open war, oppose, opposition, paper war, passage of arms, pitched battle, polemic, quarrel, quarreling, quarrelsomeness, rassle, reluct, reluctate, repel, resort to arms, riot, rival, rumble, run a tilt, running fight, scramble, scrapping, scrimmage, scuffle, shooting war, shoving match, skirmish, spar, squabbling, stand-up fight, state of war, stem the tide, street fight, strife, strive, strive against, struggle, struggle against, take on, tauromachy, the sword, thrust and parry, tilt, total war, tourney, traverse, tug-of-war, tussle, vendetta, vie with, wage war, war, war of words, warfare, warmaking, warring, wartime, withstand, words, wrangling, wrestle

ROGET THESAURUS

combat

Contention

N contention, strife, contest, contestation, struggle, belligerency, opposition, controversy, polemics, debate, war of words, logomachy, litigation, paper war, high words, sparring, competition, rivalry, corrivalry, corrivalship, agonism, concours, match, race, horse racing, heat, steeple chase, handicap, regatta, field day, sham fight, Derby day, turf, sporting, bullfight, tauromachy, gymkhana, boat race, torpids, wrestling, greco-roman wrestling, pugilism, boxing, fisticuffs, the manly art of self-defense, spar, mill, set-to, round, bout, event, prize fighting, quarterstaff, single stick, gladiatorship, gymnastics, jiujitsu, jujutsu, kooshti, sumo, athletics, athletic sports, games of skill, shindy, fracas, clash of arms, tussle, scuffle, broil, fray, affray, affrayment, velitation, colluctation, luctation, brabble, brigue, scramble, melee, scrimmage, stramash, bushfighting, free fight, stand up fight, hand to hand, running fight, conflict, skirmish, rencounter, encounter, rencontre, collision, affair, brush, fight, battle, battle royal, combat, action, engagement, joust, tournament, tilt, tilting, tournay, list, pitched battle, death struggle, struggle for life or death, life or death struggle, Armageddon, hard knocks, sharp contest, tug of war, naval engagement, naumachia, sea fight, duel, duello, single combat, monomachy, satisfaction, passage d'armes, passage of arms, affair of honor, triangular duel, hostile meeting, digladiation, deeds of arms, feats of arms, appeal to arms, pugnacity, combativeness, bone of contention, contending, together by the ears, at loggerheads, at war, at issue, competitive, rival, belligerent, contentious, combative, bellicose, unpeaceful, warlike, quarrelsome, pugnacious, pugilistic, gladiatorial, palestric, palestrical, a verbis ad verbera, a word and a blow, a very pretty quarrel as it stands, commune periculum concordiam parit, lis litem generat.

Warfare

VB arm, raise troops, mobilize troops, raise up in arms, take up the cudgels, take up arms, fly to arms, appeal to arms, fly to the sword, draw the sword, unsheathe the sword, dig up the hatchet, dig up the tomahawk, go to war, wage war, let slip the dogs of war, cry havoc, kindle the torch of war, light the torch of war, raise one's banner, raise the fire cross, hoist the black flag, throw away, fling away the scabbard, enroll, enlist, take the field, take the law into one's own hands, do battle, give battle, join battle, engage in battle, go to battle, flesh one's sword, set to, fall to, engage, measure swords with, draw the trigger, cross swords, come to blows, come to close quarters, fight, combat, contend, battle with, break a lance with, raise the jolly roger, run up the jolly roger, serve, see service, be on service, be on active service, campaign, wield the sword, shoulder a musket, smell powder, be under fire, spill blood, imbrue the hands in blood, on the warpath, carry on war, carry on hostilities, keep the field, fight the good fight, fight it out, fight like devils, fight one's way, fight hand to hand, sell one's life dearly, pay the ferryman's fee.