single combat

2 definitions found

single combat - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Combat \Com"bat\, n. [Cf. F. combat.]
     1. A fight; a contest of violence; a struggle for supremacy.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              My courage try by combat, if thou dar'st. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The noble combat that 'twixt joy and sorrow was
              fought in Paulina.                    --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Mil.) An engagement of no great magnitude; or one in
        which the parties engaged are not armies.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
          [1913 Webster]

single combat - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  single combat
      n 1: a fight between two people; "in all armies there were
           officers who needed to prove their bravery by single
           combat"