commando

noun

com·​man·​do kə-ˈman-(ˌ)dō 

plural commandos or commandoes

1

South Africa

a

: a military unit or command of the Boers

b

: a raiding expedition

2

a

: a military unit trained and organized as shock troops especially for hit-and-run raids into enemy territory

b

: a member of such a unit

see also:

go commando

Examples of commando in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Either way, The Ministry is a perfectly decent action movie based on the real-life tale of a group of World War II commandos on a covert submarine-sabotage mission. — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 25 Sep. 2026

Several defendants who pleaded guilty in the case and were at a mountaintop house on the night the Colombian commandos stormed Moïse’s private residence in the hills above Port-au-Prince testified about Badio’s presence. — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 20 Sep. 2026

Night Country‘s Kali Reis as a traditional Resident Evil commando type, there goes I, Tonya‘s Paul Walter Hauser as a whiny, weaselly corporate executive — and others who simply start sprouting tentacles out of their faces. — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 18 Sep. 2026

The redoubtable Israeli army, supposedly capable of fighting off enemies in Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen all at once, has now added to its glory the removal of a ragtag canopy in a daring commando raid. — David Shulman, The New York Review of Books, 26 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Afrikaans kommando, from Dutch commando command, from Spanish comando, from comandar to command, from Late Latin commandare

First Known Use

1791, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing commando

• go commando

Rhymes for commando

• afterglow
• akimbo
• albino
• aliquot
• allegro
• amigo
• apropos
• audio
• bungalow
• calico
• calypso
• cameo

Kids Definition

commando

noun

com·​man·​do kə-ˈman-dō 

plural commandos or commandoes

1

: a military unit trained and organized for surprise raids

2

: a member of a commando