combatant

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

Fighter

Nouns

1. (one who fights) combatant, disputant, litigant, belligerent; fighter, assailant; swashbuckler, fire-eater, duel[l]ist, bully; fighting-man, prizefighter, pugilist, boxer, bruiser, gladiator, wrestler, bullfighter; street fighter; swordsman; noncombatant, civilian. Informal, scrapper, goon, palooka, jodie.

2. levy, draft; conscript, recruit, cadet, draftee, selectee, enlistee.

3. warrior, soldier, man-at-arms; campaigner, veteran; military man, GI, doughboy, Tommy Atkins, poilu; armed force, troops, soldiery, forces, the army, standing army, regulars, militia, volunteers, auxiliaries, reserves, national guard, beefeater; guards, guardsman.

4. (irregular fighter) janizary, myrmidon, spahi, Cossack; irregular, mercenary, freelance, soldier of fortune; guerrilla, bushfighter, partisan, resistance fighter; commando.

5. (types of soldiers) private, rank and file, trooper, legionnaire, legionary, cannon fodder; officer, commander, subaltern, ensign, standard bearer; sentry; archer, [long]bowman; spearman, pikeman; halberdier, lancer; musketeer, rifleman, sharpshooter, sniper, skirmisher, commando, ranger, shock or elite troops, Special Forces, Green Berets; grenadier, fusileer; horse, or foot-soldier; infantry[man], artillery[man], cavalry[man], horse, carabiniere; military police, MP, shore patrol; tanks, panzer, armor (see arms); paratrooper, paramarine; patrol leader, point man; Uhlan, dragoon, hussar; cuirassier; gunner, cannoneer, bombardier; sapper, miner, engineer, Seabee; light infantry, rifles, chasseur, Zouave, camel corps, cameleers; frogman; chaplain (see clergy); medic (see remedy). Informal, sky pilot. Slang, sawbones.

6. (military ranks) army, air force, navy, marine corps, SEALS, special forces.

a. Joint Chiefs of Staff, chief of staff, general of the army, five-star general, [field] marshal, [four-star] general, three-star or lieutenant general, two-star or major general, one-star or brigadier general, colonel, major, captain, lieutenant, [noncommissioned officer, [chief] warrant officer, sergeant major, first sergeant, [chief] master sergeant, sergeant first class, specialist, gunnery or technical sergeant, staff sergeant, drill sergeant, corporal, lance corporal, private first class, PFC, airman first class, [buck] private, airman, [raw] recruit, draftee, call-up, enlistee, inductee, enlisted man or woman, cadet. Informal, sarge, doughboy, dogface, flyboy, lifer, war-horse. Slang, shavetail, yardbird, galoot, lobster, batman, ninety-day wonder, pogue.

b. (navy) chief of naval operations, [fleet, vice, or rear] admiral, commodore, captain, [lieutenant] commander, lieutenant [junior grade], ensign, chief warrant officer, [master or senior chief] petty officer, yeoman, quartermaster, seaman, seaman apprentice or recruit, midshipman. Informal, middie. Slang, gob, jarhead, squid, grunt, leatherneck, swabby.

c. field grade officer.

d. (historical or foreign) centurion, chasseur, condottiere, dragoon, evzone, fedayee, fusilier, ghazi, hoplite, hussar, janissary, kamikaze, kern, legionnaire, Minuteman, pandour, sepoy, spahi, storm trooper, Spetznaz, sutler, uhlan, vexillary, Zouave, redcoat, askari.

7. (force of soldiers) army, host; division, column, wing, tactical unit, detachment, patrol, garrison, brigade, regiment, corps, battalion, squadron, escadrille, company, platoon, battery, squad; guard, legion, phalanx, cohort; troops; militia, National Guard; reserves, auxiliaries.

8. (navy) marine, navy, naval forces; fleet, flotilla, armada, squadron; man-of-war (see ship); sailor, seaman (see navigation). Slang, leatherneck.

9. (airborne soldiers) air force, air arm, Luftwaffe, RAF (see aviation).

10. militarist, chauvinist, jingo[ist], warmonger. Informal, hawk.

Phrases — he who lives by the sword dies by the sword; old soldiers never die, they just fade away; your soul may belong to God, but your ass belongs to the army.

Quotations — Into the valley of Death rode the six hundred (Lord Tennyson), Every citizen should be a soldier (Thomas Jefferson), A soldier has a hard life, and but little consideration (Robert E. Lee), All a soldier needs to know is how to shoot and salute (Gen. John Pershing), Look at an infantryman's eyes, and you can tell how much war he has seen (Bill Mauldin).

Antonyms, see pacification.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

Syn. belligerent, warrior, serviceman, servicewoman; see fighter 1 , soldier .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

fighter, warrior, soldier, contender, battler, assailant, enemy, foe, antagonist.

ANT.: peacemaker, dove

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) I noun One who engages in a combat or struggle: belligerent, fighter, soldier, warrior. See CONFLICT. II adjective Of or engaged in warfare: belligerent, hostile, militant. Idiom: at war. See ATTACK.