combatant:

plural; ‘combatants‘; pronunciation: the letter ‘c’ is said with a ‘k’ sound as in “king”)

‘to combat’ = to fight with one another, usually face to face at a close range

combatants

a person that participates in a fight,, mostly hand to hand (physical), to overpower/win over the others; a fighter;

a soldier, a group of people or a country that involves in a fight, battle, etc. to win over the others; a battler,

combatants in a battle

e.g.

A combatant in general sense is a person who fights with another person physically or using weapons, but a combatant can also be used, less commonly, to refer to a person in a group who argues with others verbally, not actually using fists and weapons, but just using strong words to make his/her point.

News reports show that most of the rebel groups in Asia are using child combatants in their fight against their governments.

It was alleged that the USA and its allied forces sent heavily armed combatants and combatant vehicles into the civilian areas and killed several noncombatants in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Note 1:’Combatant’ is also used to refer to a well-armed and heavily protected military vehicle that is used in a fight or battle — a ‘combat vehicle or combat craft’.

combatants arguing

Note 2: ‘Combatant’ is more commonly used in its adjective form to refer to people and things related to fighting, usually army soldiers fighting in a battle, e.g. “The World Peace Organisation has sent requests to the combatant countries to stop fighting and to come to the table to discuss the important issues in peace.” and “A country which has more combatants (noun; soldiers) and more combatant vehicles (adjective) is expected to win a war.”
Compare: non-combatant
For an article on US combatants leaving Iraq, please click here, for an interesting and informative article about combatants in Afghanistan, please click here. And there are people who fight not for violence but for peace and, if you are interested in knowing about these strange combatants who call themselves ‘Combatants for Peace’, please click here.

Return to “noncombatant“.

About the Author:BC Kumar

BC Kumar, an English Language Teacher, taught in numerous countries including Ethiopia, Oman and India, shares his knowledge and passion for the English Language. Disclaimer: This is a free educational website and all content has been compiled by the author. All copyrights to images and videos belong to their respective owners.

Comments are closed.