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defection definition

de·fec·tion (dē fek′s̸hən, di-)

noun

  1. abandonment of loyalty, duty, or principle; desertion
  2. the act of defecting from one's country
  3. a failing or failure

Etymology: L defectio < defectus: see defect

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

defection Synonyms

defection

n.

  1. Failure

    failing, lack, deficiency; see failure 1, lack 1, 2.

  2. Desertion

    withdrawal, abandonment, apostasy, going over to the other side; see desertion, disloyalty.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

defection Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • make: The fourth thing is, to inquire who they are that make this defection from Christ.

Converse of subject

  • weaken: Military resistance was weakened by the defection of the navy.

Adjective modifier

  • mutual: The payoff of mutual defection, DD, provides the baseline outcome that yields a payoff of zero to both participants.

Modifies a noun

  • rate: Customer defection rates in the mobile telecoms sector stand at 33.4 % in 2005, compared to 15.5 % in 2003.

Noun used with modifier

  • customer: Customer defection rates in the mobile telecoms sector stand at 33.4 % in 2005, compared to 15.5 % in 2003.

Preposition: of

  • member: But it struggled with defections of key consortium members and eventually... Article continues below... ran out of cash just before Christmas.

Preposition: from

  • party: The Congress led to mass defection from Communist Parties all over the world.
defection usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

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MLA Style

"defection." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/defection>

APA Style

defection. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/defection

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