Combat, n.
Etymology: [Cf. F. combat.]
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.)
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.
2 other Webster entries under this spelling
Combat ( or ; 277), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Combated; p. pr. & vb. n. Combating.]
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.
Combat, v. t.
To fight with; to oppose by force, argument, etc.; to contend against; to resist. When he the ambitious Norway combated. Shak. And combated in silence all these reasons. Milton. Minds combat minds, repelling and repelled. Goldsmith.
Syn. -- To fight against; resist; oppose; withstand; oppugn; antagonize; repel; resent.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for combat; he lists it under attack, battle.
Where he writes about it:
Armies or squadrons charge; combat and encounter may be said of individual contests. — from attack
Combat, originally a hostile encounter between individuals, is now used also for extensive engagements. — from battle