Combat \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.