noun
adjective
Usage
What does combatant mean? A combatant is one of the sides engaged in combat—active fighting.In war, enemy combatants are the opposing sides in the war or battle.In boxing and other martial arts, the two fighters can be called combatants.The word combat is sometimes used more broadly or figuratively to refer to active conflict between two people or groups, as in The two corporations are preparing to do combat in the courtroom. The sides in this kind of combat can also be called combatants.Less commonly, combatant can be used as an adjective meaning engaged in fighting. It can also mean inclined to fight, but the word combative is more commonly used in this way.Example: If diplomacy fails, the two nations could become enemy combatants.
Other Word Forms
- precombatant noun
- uncombatant adjective
Etymology
Origin of combatant
1425–75; late Middle English combataunt < Middle French combatant. See combat, -ant
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.
Nonetheless, the U.A.E., like the rest of the Gulf region, had long tried to avoid defining itself as a combatant.
While civilian sites can lose their protection if they are used for military purposes, in such cases attacks must adhere to principles of international humanitarian law including distinguishing between combatants and civilians.
From BBC
Directly attacking Iran would turn them into open combatants with a larger rival lying just across a narrow body of water.
In conflicts between two sides that are unmatched militarily, such as wars by terrorists against states, the combatants have very different objectives, methods and tactics.
"They were just staying at home," she explained, insisting they were not combatants.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
