combat casualty
1
7.9
- noun
- /ˈkɒmbæt ˈkæʒuəlti/
- Specialized
:
pérdida de combate
- After the battle, the commander assessed the combat casualties and reported significant losses in personnel.
Examples
-
The racial composition of selected combat units in 1980 and 1990 was also examined to determine whether the risk of combat casualties and fatalities to minority soldiers changed in the intervening decade.
Academic text (1994) -
This example also allows us to eliminate another superficial explanation for the novel refusal to accept even modest numbers of combat casualties: the impact of television coverage.
Academic text (1994) -
The refusal to tolerate combat casualties is not confined to democracies.
Academic text (1994) -
From this perspective, minorities are expected not only to be overrepresented in the military through processes of economic conscription, but also to be even more overrepresented in the combat arms, where they would sustain a disproportionate share of combat casualties and fatalities should the nation go to war.
Academic text (1994) -
The report detailed the number of combat casualties suffered during the recent conflict in the region.
-
Military officials are concerned about the rising combat casualties as the fighting intensifies.
Synonyms
40
6.1
Loss of soldiers and equipment in war or training
2
4.5
Harm to military vehicles or equipment caused in combat
Loss or serious damage to military equipment caused by an enemy attack
Damage or loss of military equipment during field operations
Harm to military equipment like tanks during fighting or missions, not from accidents
How Severe
849
3.0
- US
3
5.1
- Specialized
1
7.9
885
1.4
203
1.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun is compositionally built from 'combat' (armed engagement) modifying 'casualty' (losses of personnel or equipment), so the phrase straightforwardly means losses that occur during combat. This is a transparent, literal combination that a B1 learner who knows both base words can readily infer, and similar constructions exist across many languages.
Etymology
The term combat casualty comes from battlefield reports where casualty first meant a person 'wounded' or 'killed', and people began using casualty for equipment in combat that was badly damaged or 'lost'. So today combat casualty often means military equipment that was broken or lost in battle.