combatant

noun

com·​bat·​ant kəm-ˈba-tᵊnt 

 also  ˈkäm-bə-tənt

: one that is engaged in or ready to engage in combat

combatant adjective

Examples of combatant in a Sentence

Britain was a main combatant in World War II.

Recent Examples on the Web

The ministry does not say how many were civilians or combatants but says women and children make up around half of those killed. —Samy Magdy, Chicago Tribune, 21 Aug. 2025

Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants and cannot be independently verified by TIME. —Callum Sutherland, Time, 20 Aug. 2025

In the Peace Index survey of January 2024, by which point more than 25,000 Palestinians in Gaza had been killed, 88 percent of Jewish Israelis said that the Palestinian casualties (without specifying civilians or combatants) were justified to achieve Israel’s war aims. —Dahlia Scheindlin, Foreign Affairs, 13 Aug. 2025

Coker’s performance, though, has been on par with the rest of the combatants in the depth spots. —Mike Kaye july 30, Charlotte Observer, 30 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for combatant

• noncombatant
• supernatant
• patent

Kids Definition

combatant

noun

com·​bat·​ant kəm-ˈbat-ᵊnt 

 also  ˈkäm-bət-

: one that is engaged in or ready to engage in combat

combatant adjective