Question

the ladies are waiting for the heavy rain to.............. abate, combat
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Answer 1

Correct word will be - abate.

The complete sentence will be - The ladies are waiting for the heavy rain to abate.

The word "abate" refers to a decrease in intensity. The word "combat" refers to fight which occurs between armed forces.

Thus, the interpretation of the sentence will be that women are waiting for the rain to become less intense.

Answer 2

The ladies are waiting for the heavy rain to abate.

Explanation:

The ladies are waiting for the heavy rain to..............

So the word in the fill up should mean stop or something similar to stop. The given choices are abate and combat.

Combat means fight while abate means decrease in intensity.

The ladies are not looking to fight the rain, but if the intensity of the rain decreases they will be able to walk. So abate will suit the context.