TOP

Definition of combat verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

combat

verb
 
/ˈkɒmbæt/
 
/ˈkɑːmbæt/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they combat
 
/ˈkɒmbæt/
 
/ˈkɑːmbæt/
he / she / it combats
 
/ˈkɒmbæts/
 
/ˈkɑːmbæts/
past simple combated
 
/ˈkɒmbætɪd/
 
/ˈkɑːmbætɪd/
past participle combated
 
/ˈkɒmbætɪd/
 
/ˈkɑːmbætɪd/
past simple combatted
 
/ˈkɒmbætɪd/
 
/ˈkɑːmbætɪd/
past participle combatted
 
/ˈkɒmbætɪd/
 
/ˈkɑːmbætɪd/
-ing form combating
 
/ˈkɒmbætɪŋ/
 
/ˈkɑːmbætɪŋ/
-ing form combatting
 
/ˈkɒmbætɪŋ/
 
/ˈkɑːmbætɪŋ/
jump to other results
  1. combat something to stop something unpleasant or harmful from happening or from getting worse
    • measures to combat crime/inflation/unemployment/disease
    Extra Examples
    • Measures to combat violent crime have been proposed.
    • She argued that the only way to combat inflation effectively was to keep interest rates high.
    • He announced new measures to combat crime in the inner cities.
    • The country has appealed for aid to combat serious shortages of foodstuffs.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • effectively
    • successfully
    verb + combat
    • help (to)
    • be designed to
    phrases
    • action to combat something
    • efforts to combat something
    • measures to combat something
    See full entry
  2. combat somebody (formal) to fight against an enemy
    • The security forces were unwilling to combat the insurgents.
  3. Word Originmid 16th cent. (originally denoting a fight between two people or parties): from French combattre (verb), from late Latin combattere, from com- ‘together with’ + battere, variant of Latin batuere ‘to fight’.
See combat in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee combat in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
fever
noun
 
 
From the Topic
Health problems
B2
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries Word of the Day