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Warrior and superhero raising millions during short function (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

combatant

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'warrior and superhero raising millions' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'during short function' is the wordplay.
'during' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'short' becomes 'combat' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'function' becomes 'tan' (tangent, mathematical function).
'combat' going around 'tan' is 'COMBATANT'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for combatant that I've seen before include "Soldier" , "Fighter" , "one involved in fighting" , "One engaged in fighting" , "Belligerent" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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