1.  combat(n = noun.act) armed combat - an engagement fought between two military forces;
is a kind of battle, conflict, engagement, fight
is a part of war, warfare
has particulars: belligerency, hostilities, trench warfare, aggression
Derived form verb combat₁

2.  combat(n = noun.act) fight, fighting, scrap - the act of fighting; any contest or struggle; "a fight broke out at the hockey game"; "there was fighting in the streets"; "the unhappy couple got into a terrible scrap"
is a kind of battle, conflict, struggle
has parts: blow
has particulars: gunfight, gunplay, shootout, brush, clash, encounter, skirmish, close-quarter fighting, dogfight, fencing, in-fighting, set-to, impact, shock, dogfight, hassle, rough-and-tumble, scuffle, tussle, affaire d'honneur, duel, fistfight, fisticuffs, slugfest, banging, battering, beating, whipping, affray, disturbance, fray, ruffle, brawl, free-for-all, cut-and-thrust, knife fight, snickersnee, gang fight, rumble, single combat
Derived form verb combat₁

   combat(v = verb.competition) battle - battle or contend against in or as if in a battle; "The Kurds are combating Iraqi troops in Northern Iraq"; "We must combat the prejudices against other races"; "they battled over the budget"
is one way to contend, fight, struggle
Derived forms noun combat₁, noun combat₂, noun combatant₁, adjective combatant₁, adjective combative₃
Sample sentences: Somebody ----s; Somebody ----s something; Somebody ----s somebody

   To struggle or contend, as with an opposing force; to fight. [1913 Webster]
"To combat with a blind man I disdain." [1913 Webster]
"After the fall of the republic, the Romans combated only for the choice of masters." [1913 Webster]

   To fight with; to oppose by force, argument, etc.; to contend against; to resist. [1913 Webster]
"When he the ambitious Norway combated." [1913 Webster]
"And combated in silence all these reasons." [1913 Webster]
"Minds combat minds, repelling and repelled."

1.  A fight; a contest of violence; a struggle for supremacy. [1913 Webster]
"My courage try by combat, if thou dar'st." [1913 Webster]
"The noble combat that 'twixt joy and sorrow was fought in Paulina." [1913 Webster]

2.  An engagement of no great magnitude; or one in which the parties engaged are not armies. [1913 Webster]

combat, n. & v.
--n. a fight, struggle, or contest.
--v. (combated, combating)
1 intr. engage in combat.
2 tr. engage in combat with.
3 tr. oppose; strive against.

Idiom:
combat fatigue a mental disorder caused by stress in wartime combat. single combat a duel.

Etymology:
F combat f. combattre f. LL (as COM-, L batuere fight)

N  contention, strife, contest, contestation, struggle, belligerency, opposition, controversy, polemics, debate, war of words, logomachy, litigation, paper war, high words, sparring, competition, rivalry, corrivalry, corrivalship, agonism, concours, match, race, horse racing, heat, steeple chase, handicap, regatta, field day, sham fight, Derby day, turf, sporting, bullfight, tauromachy, gymkhana, boat race, torpids, wrestling, greco-roman wrestling, pugilism, boxing, fisticuffs, the manly art of self-defense, spar, mill, set-to, round, bout, event, prize fighting, quarterstaff, single stick, gladiatorship, gymnastics, jiujitsu, jujutsu, kooshti, sumo, athletics, athletic sports, games of skill, shindy, fracas, clash of arms, tussle, scuffle, broil, fray, affray, affrayment, velitation, colluctation, luctation, brabble, brigue, scramble, melee, scrimmage, stramash, bushfighting, free fight, stand up fight, hand to hand, running fight, conflict, skirmish, rencounter, encounter, rencontre, collision, affair, brush, fight, battle, battle royal, combat, action, engagement, joust, tournament, tilt, tilting, tournay, list, pitched battle, death struggle, struggle for life or death, life or death struggle, Armageddon, hard knocks, sharp contest, tug of war, naval engagement, naumachia, sea fight, duel, duello, single combat, monomachy, satisfaction, passage d'armes, passage of arms, affair of honor, triangular duel, hostile meeting, digladiation, deeds of arms, feats of arms, appeal to arms, pugnacity, combativeness, bone of contention, contending, together by the ears, at loggerheads, at war, at issue, competitive, rival, belligerent, contentious, combative, bellicose, unpeaceful, warlike, quarrelsome, pugnacious, pugilistic, gladiatorial, palestric, palestrical, a verbis ad verbera, a word and a blow, a very pretty quarrel as it stands, commune periculum concordiam parit, lis litem generat.

VB  arm, raise troops, mobilize troops, raise up in arms, take up the cudgels, take up arms, fly to arms, appeal to arms, fly to the sword, draw the sword, unsheathe the sword, dig up the hatchet, dig up the tomahawk, go to war, wage war, let slip the dogs of war, cry havoc, kindle the torch of war, light the torch of war, raise one's banner, raise the fire cross, hoist the black flag, throw away, fling away the scabbard, enroll, enlist, take the field, take the law into one's own hands, do battle, give battle, join battle, engage in battle, go to battle, flesh one's sword, set to, fall to, engage, measure swords with, draw the trigger, cross swords, come to blows, come to close quarters, fight, combat, contend, battle with, break a lance with, raise the jolly roger, run up the jolly roger, serve, see service, be on service, be on active service, campaign, wield the sword, shoulder a musket, smell powder, be under fire, spill blood, imbrue the hands in blood, on the warpath, carry on war, carry on hostilities, keep the field, fight the good fight, fight it out, fight like devils, fight one's way, fight hand to hand, sell one's life dearly, pay the ferryman's fee.

air combat command, armed combat, armored combat vehicle, armoured combat vehicle, combat area, combat boot, combat casualty, combat ceiling, combat fatigue, combat injury, combat intelligence, combat mission, combat neurosis, combat pay, combat pilot, combat ship, combat zone, hors de combat, salafast group for call and combat, single combat