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.