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
Ownership of the Kennedy story is a war with many combatants.
—
Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 14 Feb. 2026
Friday night’s combatants had spent the last two hours no more than yards apart.
—Matt Slater, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2026
The other flavor is the solo villain, a species of independent combatants who've generally developed some kind of beef with Starfleet, and will stop at nothing to ensure their destructive schemes — which may or may not have galactic significance — come to fruition.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 13 Feb. 2026
The war in Ukraine will enter its fifth year later this month, a consequence of stiff Ukrainian military resistance, poor Russian decision-making, the emergence of drone warfare and the combatants’ inability to agree on how to settle it.
—Daniel Depetris, Chicago Tribune, 10 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for combatant
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Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 14 Feb. 2026
Friday night’s combatants had spent the last two hours no more than yards apart.
—Matt Slater, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2026
The other flavor is the solo villain, a species of independent combatants who've generally developed some kind of beef with Starfleet, and will stop at nothing to ensure their destructive schemes — which may or may not have galactic significance — come to fruition.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 13 Feb. 2026
The war in Ukraine will enter its fifth year later this month, a consequence of stiff Ukrainian military resistance, poor Russian decision-making, the emergence of drone warfare and the combatants’ inability to agree on how to settle it.
—Daniel Depetris, Chicago Tribune, 10 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for combatant
Cite this Entry
“Combatant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/combatant. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationKids 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
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