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 New Orleans Saints (1-2) and the Atlanta Falcons (1-2) — two NFC South combatants — meet on Monday, October 5, 2026 at Caesars Superdome. — Data Skrive, New York Times, 5 Oct. 2026 Akhtar the author, though, is conducting a stealthy psyop aimed at detonating the certainties of combatants on both sides. — Literary Hub, 1 Oct. 2026 Meanwhile, American soldier Lou (Boyd Holbrook) and his squadron exchange fire with unseen enemy combatants. — Tim Grierson, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026 Major combatants The three major belligerents in the Rhodesian Bush War were the Rhodesian security forces, ZANLA, and ZIPRA. — Chinatsu Tsuji, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Sep. 2026 The main combatants are Ethiopian federal troops and fighters loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front, or TPLF, an armed political group in Tigray, Ethiopia's northernmost regional state. — Samuel Getachew, Arkansas Online, 25 Sep. 2026 The main combatants are Ethiopian federal troops and fighters loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, an armed political group in Tigray, Ethiopia's northernmost regional state. — ABC News, 24 Sep. 2026 And when the combatants’ political end goals are too muddy or maximalist, imposing costs indefinitely can seem like the only alternative to capitulation. — Nadia Schadlow, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2026 Some of the people on at the scene told CBS News New York's Dave Carlin that one of the combatants had a knife. — Jeff Capellini, CBS News, 16 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for combatants
  1. soldiers
  2. fighters
  3. troopers
  4. warriors
Noun
  • Israel says four of its soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza over the same period.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 4 Oct. 2026
  • The film, which won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, sees the pair interview Israeli intelligence officers and soldiers (faces concealed, voices digitally altered) on rooftops in Tel Aviv about the civilian death toll in Gaza.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of soldiers
Noun
  • Israel's domestic intelligence agency, Shin Bet, was alerted to the fact that Israeli SIM cards that had been distributed to Hamas fighters were activated — a sign of their imminent intention to cross into Israel.
    — Dov Lieber, CBS News, 7 Oct. 2026
  • The war killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of fighters
Noun
  • Deputies and Florida Highway Patrol troopers caught up with Lopez, who sped away at speeds of up to 100 mph, according to his arrest report.
    — David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 2 Oct. 2026
  • State police said he was found to be at fault for the crash after troopers interviewed multiple witnesses.
    — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of troopers
Noun
  • Working frequently with stylist Ib Kamara, Pavarotti casts Black models as goddesses, queens, or warriors.
    — Alison S. Cohn, Vogue, 2 Oct. 2026
  • On June 21, Langlade and more than two hundred Ojibwe and Odawa soldiers attacked while most of the Miami warriors were away at their summer hunting camps and the women were working in the fields outside the walls.
    — J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 29 Sep. 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 9 Oct. 2026.

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