Meaning of combat In English

• 0 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)

  • The film explores the combat between good and evil.

• 1 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.

• 2 fighting during a time of war:

  • [ U ] a combat jacket/zone/casualty

  • [ U ] No one knew how many troops had died in combat.

  • [ C ] The film explores the combat between good and evil.

• 3 to try to stop something unpleasant or harmful from happening or increasing:

  • We must try to combat poverty and illiteracy.