combatants

noun

plural of combatant
as in soldiers
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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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of combatants The Dominion battled right back with a pair of stereo suplexes, but Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor hit stereo clotheslines as all four combatants were laid out. — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026 In a campaign known as Operation Wandering Soul, US forces played recordings of eerie sounds and voices where combatants were fighting in the jungle. — Harmeet Kaur, CNN Money, 27 Aug. 2026 The Korean War of 1950-1953 made the Cold War global, with China and the United States as direct combatants. — Arthur I. Cyr, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026 Hours of fierce fighting between government troops and militias that killed dozens of combatants in Somalia’s southwestern city of Baidoa also left at least four civilians dead and 98 others wounded, a hospital official said Tuesday. — ABC News, 18 Aug. 2026 And right now, all that means is finding the rest of the enemy combatants. — Andy Andersen, Vulture, 16 Aug. 2026 The near flattening of Gaza by Israel – with the accompanying death toll of more than 70,000 Palestinians, both civilians and combatants – has captured world attention. — Dina Kraft, Christian Science Monitor, 12 Aug. 2026 This mode is also another chance to reinterpret Marvel through an anime lens, this time turning the mighty combatants into adorable, chibi versions of themselves. — Jordan Minor, PC Magazine, 11 Aug. 2026 Far from stabilizing Lebanon, the multinational forces soon became targets and combatants in the widening war. — Kori Schake, Foreign Affairs, 6 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for combatants
  1. soldiers
  2. fighters
  3. troopers
  4. warriors
Noun
  • That means determining how robots are transported, controlled, tasked, and integrated with soldiers and existing command structures.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 1 Sep. 2026
  • This is my personal version of those videos of soldiers coming home from war, and the other women react as such.
    — Tom Smyth, Vulture, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of soldiers
Noun
  • Myers spoke vaguely about winning and losing, while interspersing clips of Ultimate Fighting Championship interviews with fighters after matches.
    — Taylor Seely, AZCentral.com, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Niger’s ruling junta survived its most serious internal challenge since the 2023 coup after renegade soldiers mutinied in Niamey and Russian Africa Corps fighters helped presidential guards retake a key airbase.
    — Chinedu Asadu, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of fighters
Noun
  • In mid-August, state troopers returned to sweep an encampment once again under Operation SAFE.
    — Jake Ramsey, Oklahoma Watch, 30 Aug. 2026
  • And state troopers had booted people off state land weeks earlier.
    — Maddy Keyes, The Frontier, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of troopers
Noun
  • Protective, almost — which makes sense, as its stunning chandeliers are designed to look like the shields and spears of African Masai warriors.
    — Amy Drew Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 26 Aug. 2026
  • In ancient legend, 300 Spartan warriors held the narrow pass at Thermopylae against a vast, overwhelming force, relying on a critical bottleneck to offset impossible odds.
    — Siddharth Misra, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of warriors

Browse Nearby Words

combatant
combatants
combated
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Cite this Entry

“Combatants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/combatants. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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