Adjacent Words

Defeat definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DEFEAT, n.
1. Overthrow; loss of battle; the check, rout, or destruction of an army by the victory of an enemy.
2. Successful resistance; as the defeat of an attack.
3. Frustration; a rendering null and void; as the defeat of a title.
4. Frustration; prevention of success; as the defeat of a plan or design.
DEFEAT, v.t.
1. To overcome or vanquish, as an army; to check, disperse or ruin by victory; to overthrow; applies to an army, or a division of troops; to a fleet, or to a commander.
The English army defeated the French on the plains of Abraham. Gen. Wolf defeated Montcalm. The French defeated the Austrians at Marengo.
2. To frustrate; to prevent the success of; to disappoint.
Then mayest thou for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel. 2 Sam. Xv. And xvii.
We say, our dearest hopes are often defeated.
3. To render null and void; as, to defeat a title or an estate.
4. To resist with success; as, to defeat an attempt or assault.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an unsuccessful ending to a struggle or contest; "it was a narrow defeat"; "the army's only defeat"; "they suffered a convincing licking" [syn: defeat, licking] [ant: triumph, victory]
2: the feeling that accompanies an experience of being thwarted in attaining your goals [syn: frustration, defeat] v
1: win a victory over; "You must overcome all difficulties"; "defeat your enemies"; "He overcame his shyness"; "He overcame his infirmity"; "Her anger got the better of her and she blew up" [syn: get the better of, overcome, defeat]
2: thwart the passage of; "kill a motion"; "he shot down the student's proposal" [syn: kill, shoot down, defeat, vote down, vote out]

Merriam Webster's

I. transitive verb Etymology: Middle English deffeten, from Anglo-French defait, past participle of defaire, desfaire to destroy, from Medieval Latin disfacere, from Latin dis- + facere to do — more at do Date: 14th century 1. obsolete destroy 2. a. nullify <defeat an estate> b. frustrate 2a(1) <defeat a hope> 3. to win victory over ; beat <defeat the opposing team> Synonyms: see conquer • defeatable adjective II. noun Date: 1590 1. frustration by nullification or by prevention of success <the bill suffered defeat in the Senate> 2. obsolete destruction 3. a. an overthrow especially of an army in battle b. the loss of a contest

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.tr. 1 overcome in a battle or other contest. 2 frustrate, baffle. 3 reject (a motion etc.) by voting. 4 Law annul. --n. the act or process of defeating or being defeated. Etymology: ME f. OF deffait, desfait past part. of desfaire f. med.L disfacere (as DIS-, L facere do)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Defeat De*feat", n. [Cf. F. d['e]faite, fr. d['e]faire. See Defeat, v.] 1. An undoing or annulling; destruction. [Obs.] Upon whose property and most dear life A damned defeat was made. --Shak. 2. Frustration by rendering null and void, or by prevention of success; as, the defeat of a plan or design. 3. An overthrow, as of an army in battle; loss of a battle; repulse suffered; discomfiture; -- opposed to victory.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Defeat De*feat", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Defeated; p. pr. & vb. n. Defeating.] [From F. d['e]fait, OF. desfait, p. p. ofe d['e]faire, OF. desfaire, to undo; L. dis- + facere to do. See Feat, Fact, and cf. Disfashion.] 1. To undo; to disfigure; to destroy. [Obs.] His unkindness may defeat my life. --Shak. 2. To render null and void, as a title; to frustrate, as hope; to deprive, as of an estate. He finds himself naturally to dread a superior Being that can defeat all his designs, and disappoint all his hopes. --Tillotson. The escheators . . . defeated the right heir of his succession. --Hallam. In one instance he defeated his own purpose. --A. W. Ward. 3. To overcome or vanquish, as an army; to check, disperse, or ruin by victory; to overthrow. 4. To resist with success; as, to defeat an assault. Sharp reasons to defeat the law. --Shak. Syn: To baffle; disappoint; frustrate.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(defeats, defeating, defeated) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If you defeat someone, you win a victory over them in a battle, game, or contest. His guerrillas defeated the colonial army in 1954... = beat VERB: V n 2. If a proposal or motion in a debate is defeated, more people vote against it than for it. The proposal was defeated by just one vote. VERB: usu passive, be V-ed 3. If a task or a problem defeats you, it is so difficult that you cannot do it or solve it. There were times when the challenges of writing such a huge novel almost defeated her. VERB: V n 4. To defeat an action or plan means to cause it to fail. The navy played a limited but significant role in defeating the rebellion... = thwart VERB: V n 5. Defeat is the experience of being beaten in a battle, game, or contest, or of failing to achieve what you wanted to. The most important thing is not to admit defeat until you really have to... The vote is seen as a defeat for the anti-abortion lobby... N-VAR

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Overthrow, downfall, rout, discomfiture, repulse. 2. Frustration. II. v. a. 1. Conquer, overthrow, overcome, vanquish, repulse, beat, discomfit, rout, check-mate. 2. Frustrate, baffle, foil, balk, thwart, disconcert, disappoint.

Moby Thesaurus

KO, Waterloo, answer, answer conclusively, argue down, baffle, bafflement, balk, balking, bankruptcy, bar, bear down, bear the palm, beat, beat all hollow, beat down, beat hollow, beating, best, betrayed hope, bilk, blast, blasted expectation, blighted hope, block, blow, brave, bring down, buffet, cast down, challenge, check, checkmate, circumvent, cleaning, cleanup, clobber, clobbering, comedown, confound, confounding, confront, confute, conquer, conquest, contradict, contravene, controvert, cook, counter, counteract, countermand, counterwork, cross, cruel disappointment, crush, dash, dashed hope, debacle, defeasance, defeat expectation, defy, demolish, deny, destroy, disappoint, disappointment, discomfit, discomfiture, disconcert, disconcertion, discountenance, dish, disillusion, disillusionment, dismiss, dispose of, disrupt, dissatisfaction, dissatisfy, do for, do in, downcast, downthrow, drub, drubbing, dusting, elude, end, failure, fallen countenance, fiasco, finish, fix, fizzle, floor, flummox, foil, foiling, forlorn hope, frustrate, frustration, futility, hide, hinder, hope deferred, hors de combat, ill success, impede, knock out, knock the chocks, lambaste, lambasting, lather, let down, letdown, lick, licking, losing game, mirage, miscarriage, no go, nonaccomplishment, nonplus, nonsuccess, obstruct, outclass, outdo, outfight, outgeneral, outmaneuver, outpoint, outrun, outsail, outshine, overcome, overpower, overthrow, overturn, overwhelm, parry, perplex, prevail over, put, put to silence, rebuff, rebut, reduce, reduce to silence, refute, repress, repulse, reversal, reverse, rise above, rout, ruin, sabotage, scotch, scuttle, setback, settle, shellacking, shoot down, shut up, silence, sink, skin, skin alive, smash all opposition, sore disappointment, spike, spoil, squash, squelch, stonewall, stop, stump, subdue, subjugate, subvert, successlessness, suppress, surmount, take the cake, tantalization, tantalize, tease, terminate, thrash, thrashing, thwart, thwarting, torpedo, trim, triumph, triumph over, trounce, trouncing, undermine, undo, undoing, unsuccess, unsuccessfulness, upset, uselessness, vanquish, vanquishment, warming, whip, win, worst