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.)
Defn: 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.
COMBATABLE
Com"bat*a*ble ( or ), a. Etym: [Cf. F. combattable.]
Defn: Such as can be, or is liable to be, combated; as, combatable foes, evils, or arguments.
COMBATANT
Com"bat*ant, a. Etym: [F. combattant, p. pr.]
Defn: Contending; disposed to contend. B. Jonson.
COMBATANT
Com"bat*ant, n. Etym: [F. combattant.]
Defn: One who engages in combat. "The mighty combatants." Milton.
A controversy which long survived the original combatants. Macaulay