a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war; "Grant won a decisive victory in the battle of Chickamauga"; "he lost his romantic ideas about war when he got into a real engagement"
battle or contend against in or as if in a battle; "The Kurds are combating Iraqi troops in Northern Iraq"; "We must combat the prejudices against other races"; "they battled over the budget"
a focussed comparison; bringing together for a careful comparison
the act of hostile groups opposing each other; "the government was not ready for a confrontation with the unions"; "the invaders encountered stiff opposition"
a hostile disagreement face-to-face
discord resulting from a clash of ideas or opinions