defeat

de·feat

Use defeat in a sentence

A runner suffers defeat.

noun

Defeat is defined as the state of being beaten or having lost.
When you have just lost a race, this is an example of a situation where you feel defeat.

verb

To defeat is defined as to beat someone at something or to prevent something from happening.
1. When you beat your opponent in a race, this is an example of a situation where you defeat your opponent.
2. When you prevent a bill from becoming a law, this is an example of a situation where you defeat the bill.

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"defeat." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 22 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/defeat>.

APA Style

defeat. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22nd, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/defeat

defeat

to win victory over; overcome; beat
to bring to nothing; frustrate: defeating our plans
to make null and void
Obs. to undo; destroy

Origin of defeat

Middle English defeten from defet, disfigured, null and void from Old French desfait, past participle of desfaire, to undo from Medieval Latin disfacere, to deface, ruin from Classical Latin dis-, from + facere, to do

the act of defeating, or gaining victory
the fact of being defeated
frustration
nullification

Origin of defeat

ME defet

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MLA Style

"defeat." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 22 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/defeat>.

APA Style

defeat. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22nd, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/defeat

defeat

transitive verb

de·feat·ed, de·feat·ing, de·feats

To do better than (another) in a competition or battle; win victory over; beat: “Whether we defeat the enemy in one battle, or by degrees, the consequences will be the same” ( Thomas Paine )
To prevent the success of; thwart: Internal strife defeats the purpose of teamwork.
Law
a. To frustrate the enforcement of (a motion, for example).
b. To make (an estate, for example) void; annul.
a. To dishearten or dispirit: The last setback defeated her, and she gave up.
b. To be beyond the comprehension of; mystify: How the children found their way back home defeats me.

noun

a. The act of defeating an opponent: the home team's defeat of their rivals.
b. The state of being defeated; failure to win: the home team's defeat by their rivals.
A coming to naught; frustration: the defeat of a lifelong dream.
Law
a. The act of overcoming or frustrating the enforcement of.
b. Law The act of making null and void.

Origin of defeat

Middle English defeten from defet disfigured from Old French desfait past participle of desfaire to destroy from Medieval Latin disfacere to destroy, mutilate, undo Latin dis- dis- Latin facere to do ; see dhē- in Indo-European roots.

Related Forms:

de·feat′er
noun

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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MLA Style

"defeat." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 22 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/defeat>.

APA Style

defeat. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22nd, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/defeat

defeat

defeat conquer vanquish beat rout ¹subdue subjugate overcome

These verbs mean to triumph over an adversary. Defeat is the most general: “Whether we defeat the enemy in one battle, or by degrees, the consequences will be the same” (Thomas Paine). Conquer suggests decisive and often wide-scale victory: “The Franks . . . having conquered the Gauls, established the kingdom which has taken its name from them” (Alexander Hamilton). Vanquish emphasizes total mastery: Napoleon's forces were vanquished at Waterloo. Beat is similar to defeat, though less formal and often more emphatic: “To win battles . . . you beat the soul . . . of the enemy man” (George S. Patton). Rout implies complete victory followed by the disorderly flight of the defeated force: The enemy was routed in the first battle. Subdue suggests mastery and control achieved by overpowering: “It cost [the Romans] two great wars, and three great battles, to subdue that little kingdom [Macedonia]” (Adam Smith). Subjugate more strongly implies reducing an opponent to submission: “The last foreigner to subjugate England was a Norman duke in the Middle Ages named William” (Stanley Meisler). To overcome is to prevail over, often by persevering: He overcame his injury after months of physical therapy.

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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MLA Style

"defeat." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 22 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/defeat>.

APA Style

defeat. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22nd, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/defeat

Verb

(third-person singular simple present defeats, present participle defeating, simple past and past participle defeated)

To overcome in battle or contest.
Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.
To nullify; to reduce, to nothing, the strength of.

Related terms

Noun

(plural defeats)

The act of defeating or being defeated.

Origin

from Old French desfait, from the verb desfaire Latin des + faciō (to unmake).

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.

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Link to this page

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MLA Style

"defeat." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 22 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/defeat>.

APA Style

defeat. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22nd, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/defeat

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