cobelligerent

American

[koh-buh-lij-er-uhnt] / ˌkoʊ bəˈlɪdʒ ər ənt /

noun

a state or individual that cooperates with, but is not bound by a formal alliance to another in waging war.

cobelligerent British

/ ˌkəʊbɪˈlɪdʒərənt /

noun

a country fighting in a war on the side of another country

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of cobelligerent

First recorded in 1805–15; co- + belligerent

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

If Badoglio's cobelligerent Italy was a military plus and an economic minus, politically it was a plain enigma.

From Time Magazine Archive

His declaration of war against his former ally last week had the approval of Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin; their joint acceptance of Italy as a cobelligerent was the first three-way declaration on the record.

From Time Magazine Archive

Another, Italy's Vittorio Emanuele III, is a somewhat down-at-the-heel cobelligerent of the United Nations.

From Time Magazine Archive

But the line between cobelligerent and ally was hard to draw.

From Time Magazine Archive

But, economically, cobelligerent Italy looms as a headache.

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023