Com"bat (? or ?; 277), v. i.
[imp. & p. p. Combated; p. pr. &
vb. n. Combating.] [F. combattre; pref.
com- + battre to beat, fr. L. battuere to
strike. See Batter.] To struggle or contend, as with
an opposing force; to fight.
To combat with a blind man I disdain.
Milton.
After the fall of the republic, the Romans
combated only for the choice of masters.
Gibbon.
Com"bat, v. t. To fight with;
to oppose by force, argument, etc.; to contend against; to
resist.
When he the ambitious Norway combated.
Shak.
And combated in silence all these
reasons.
Milton.
Minds combat minds, repelling and
repelled.
Goldsmith.
Syn. -- To fight against; resist; oppose; withstand;
oppugn; antagonize; repel; resent.
Com"bat, n. [Cf. F. combat.]
1. A fight; a contest of violence; a
struggle for supremacy.
My courage try by combat, if thou
dar'st.
Shak.
The noble combat that 'twixt joy and sorrow
was fought in Paulina.
Shak.
2. (Mil.) An engagement of no
great magnitude; or one in which the parties engaged are not
armies.
Single combat, one in which a single
combatant meets a single opponent, as in the case of David and
Goliath; also, a duel.
Syn. -- A battle; engagement; conflict; contest;
contention; struggle; fight, strife. See Battle,
Contest.
