combatnoun
uk/ˈkɒm.bæt/us/ˈkɑːm.bæt/C2 [ C or U ] a fight, especially during a war:
There was fierce combat between the two sides.
No one knew how many troops had died in combat.
The soldiers were engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
armed combat (= fighting with weapons)
unarmed combat (= fighting without weapons)
[ C ] a fight between two people or things:
The film explores the combat between good and evil.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Fighting
- a fight to the finish idiom
- bloodless
- bloodletting
- brawl
- counterinsurgency
- disturbance
- dust-up
- engagement
- fighting
- fistfight
- fisticuffs
- fray
- he who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day idiom
- hotspot
- last
- mano a mano
- pick
- shoot
- slug
- slug it out idiom
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combatverb [ T ]
uk/kəmˈbæt/us/ˈkɑːm.bæt/-tt- or -t-C2 to try to stop something unpleasant or harmful from happening or increasing:
to combat crime/terrorism/inflation/disease
The government is spending millions of dollars in its attempt to combat drug abuse.
I have to combat this constant desire to eat chocolate.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Preventing and impeding
- avert
- avoid
- avoidable
- bar
- be a drag on sb/sth idiom
- block sth out
- bottleneck
- derail
- fireproof
- hold out on sb
- hold sb/sth back
- hold/keep sb/sth at bay idiom
- holding pattern
- impede
- prevention
- prevention is better than cure idiom
- preventive
- prohibit
- pull
- scuttle
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