engage in combat

"As though several people were about to engage in combat."

He came under fire but did not engage in direct combat.

We don't have the energy to engage in political combat.

They remain on the board after being played and can engage in combat.

Everyone knows, he said, that Congress has no choice but to support troops once they are engaged in combat.

For a moment he thought they were engaged in combat, but then the sounds died away.

They should even be permitted to engage in combat, he says.

The American forces would not engage in combat, he said.

It wasn't long before the two groups engaged each other in combat.

A century ago, science and religion were engaged in open combat.