Look uphors de combat in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Hors de combat (French:[ɔʁdəkɔ̃ba];lit. 'out of combat') is aFrench term used in thelaws of war to refer to persons who are incapable of performing theircombat duties duringwar. Examples includepersons parachuting from their disabled aircraft, shipwreck survivors, as well as the sick, wounded, detained, or otherwise disabled. Intentional hostility from assumed persons removes any legal protection on their part.

Under the1949 Geneva Conventions,enemy combatantshors de combat arenon-combatants and automatically granted the status ofprotected persons. Lawfulcombatantshors de combat receiveprisoner of war (POW) status and cannot be prosecuted for simply partaking in hostilities.Unlawful combatantshors de combat do not receive the same privilege and are subject to trial and punishment (which may includecapital punishment if the detaining power has such a punishment for the crimes they have committed).

Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions defines a person ashors de combat if:^[1]

(a) he is in the power of an adverse Party;

(b) he clearly expresses an intention to surrender; or

(c) he has been rendered unconscious or is otherwise incapacitated by wounds or sickness, and therefore is incapable of defending himself;

provided that in any of these cases he abstains from any hostile act and does not attempt to escape.