as in soldier
a person, group, or country that fights in a war or battle
Britain was a major combatant in World War II.
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Recent Examples of combatant
Responding to Toboso According to officials, all of those killed in a series of clashes were combatants of the NPA, a Maoist guerrilla group that seeks to seize political power from Manila.
—
Patrick Peralta, The Conversation, 28 May 2026
The gender of female combatants was discovered only when they were wounded or killed.
—Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 May 2026
In experiments inspired by drone warfare, his team asked participants to categorize images as civilians or enemy combatants and to choose whether to fire a missile at each potential target.
—Steven Melendez, Scientific American, 22 May 2026
ARoss’ Brand Risk brand has built a lane staging chaos between unlikely combatants.
—Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 22 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for combatant
Patrick Peralta, The Conversation, 28 May 2026
The gender of female combatants was discovered only when they were wounded or killed.
—Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 May 2026
In experiments inspired by drone warfare, his team asked participants to categorize images as civilians or enemy combatants and to choose whether to fire a missile at each potential target.
—Steven Melendez, Scientific American, 22 May 2026
ARoss’ Brand Risk brand has built a lane staging chaos between unlikely combatants.
—Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 22 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for combatant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for combatant
Noun
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Last month, senior Moscow officials attended the inauguration of a war memorial complex in Pyongyang, where soldiers fighting for Russia were honored and a message from Putin was read aloud.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN Money,
5 June 2026
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Four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire.—
Wafaa Shurafa,
Los Angeles Times,
4 June 2026
Noun
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The compromise is mainly symbolic since FCAS is a generic name for such systems and not unique to this plan, but officials have been seeking a formula allowing Macron to relinquish the core fighter without having to declare the whole project dead.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
9 June 2026
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In combat aviation, fighter and ISR crews operating in dense threat environments often face crushing cognitive loads managing all aspects of flight but also rapidly evolving tactical pictures.—
Tim Burns,
Fortune,
9 June 2026
Noun
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Nicholas Galitzine stars as the titular blond-haired warrior.—
Jack Dunn,
Variety,
6 June 2026
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Adam does find his sword and returns to Eternia, fairly early in the film, to fulfill his destiny as a powerful warrior who (eventually) goes by the name of He-Man.—
Mike Ryan,
IndieWire,
4 June 2026
Noun
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The driver, identified as Rivas, showed signs of impairment, state police alleged, and fled as troopers checked him out for a potential DWI arrest.—
Dennis Romero,
NBC news,
9 June 2026
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She and three other troopers were charged with manslaughter in connection to the 2024 death of trooper trainee Enrique Delgado-Garcia, who died after being knocked out during a boxing match at the State Police Academy.—
Colleen Cronin,
Boston Herald,
9 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Combatant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/combatant. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.
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