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

Phrases

go commando

slang : to wear no underwear

Examples of commando in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The actress, 40, recently filmed a sit-down video with her My Old Ass costar, Maisy Stella, for Entertainment Weekly, which led to a confession from Plaza about her love for going commando. —Michelle Lee, Peoplemag, 24 Sep. 2024

Militant kills 3 Israeli officers in West Bank A militant who shot three Israeli police officers in the occupied West Bank on Sunday was later killed by commandos, the Israeli military said. —Susan Miller, USA TODAY, 1 Sep. 2024

On June 8, Israeli commandos stormed an apartment where hostage Noa Argamani was being held in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. —Laura King, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2024

In 1997, Fujimori directed a commando attack on the Japanese Embassy where guerrillas had held 72 hostages captive for four months. —Chris Kraul, Los Angeles Times, 12 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

1839, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

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