Definitions for defeat
dɪˈfitde·feat

Princeton's WordNet(2.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. defeat, lickingnoun

   an unsuccessful ending to a struggle or contest

   "it was a narrow defeat"; "the army's only defeat"; "they suffered a convincing licking"

2. frustration, defeatverb

   the feeling that accompanies an experience of being thwarted in attaining your goals

3. get the better of, overcome, defeatverb

   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"

4. kill, shoot down, defeat, vote down, vote outverb

   thwart the passage of

   "kill a motion"; "he shot down the student's proposal"

Wiktionary(2.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. defeatnoun

   The act of defeating or being defeated

2. defeatverb

   To overcome in battle or contest.

   Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.

3. defeatverb

   To destroy, ruin, undo, lay waste to.

4. defeatverb

   To nullify; to reduce, to nothing, the strength of.

5. Etymology: from desfait, from the verb desfaire des + faciō (to unmake).

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. DEFEATnoun

   Etymology: from defaire, French.

   1. The overthrow of an army.

   End Marlb’rough’s work, and finish the defeat. Addison.

   2. Act of destruction; deprivation.

   A king, upon whose life
   A damn’d defeat was made. William Shakespeare, Hamlet.

2. To Defeatverb

   Etymology: from the noun.

   1. To overthrow.

   Ye gods, ye make the weak most strong;
   Therein, ye gods, ye tyrants do defeat. William Shakespeare, Jul. Cæsar.

   They invaded Ireland, and were defeated by the lord Mountjoy. Francis Bacon, on the War with Spain.

   2. To frustrate.

   To his accusations
   He pleaded still not guilty, and alleg’d
   Many sharp reasons to defeat the law. William Shakespeare, Henry VIII.

   Death,
   Then due by sentence when thou did’st transgress,
   Defeated of his seizure, many days,
   Giv’n thee of grace. John Milton, Paradise Lost, b. i. l. 254.

   Discover’d, and defeated of your prey,
   You skulk’d. John Dryden, Virg. Past. 3.

   He finds himself naturally to dread a superior Being, that can defeat all his designs, and disappoint all his hopes. John Tillotson.

   3. To abolish.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Defeatverb

   to undo; to disfigure; to destroy

2. Defeatverb

   to render null and void, as a title; to frustrate, as hope; to deprive, as of an estate

3. Defeatverb

   to overcome or vanquish, as an army; to check, disperse, or ruin by victory; to overthrow

4. Defeatverb

   to resist with success; as, to defeat an assault

5. Defeat

   an undoing or annulling; destruction

6. Defeat

   frustration by rendering null and void, or by prevention of success; as, the defeat of a plan or design

7. Defeat

   an overthrow, as of an army in battle; loss of a battle; repulse suffered; discomfiture; -- opposed to victory

8. Etymology: [Cf. F. dfaite, fr. dfaire. See Defeat, v.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Defeat

   de-fēt′, v.t. to frustrate: to ruin.—n. a frustration of plans: ruin: overthrow, as of an army in battle.—n. Defeat′ure (Spens.), defeat: disfigurement, disguise. [O. Fr. defait, defaire, to undo—L. dis, neg. facĕre, to do.]

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. defeat

   This word expresses the complete want of success of an army; a repulse signifying less, and a rout more, than defeat.

2. defeat

   To resist with success; as, to defeat an assault.

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'defeat' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3245

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'defeat' in Nouns Frequency: #1306

3. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'defeat' in Verbs Frequency: #623

How to pronounce defeat?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say defeat in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of defeat in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of defeat in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of defeat in a Sentence

1. Ted Cruz:

   It's important to understand on the Senate Judiciary Committee, I was leading the fight along with Jeff Sessions to defeat this bill, the Gang of Eight bill. As a result, I was introducing a whole series of amendments, in part, to demonstrate the hypocrisy of the Democrats.

2. James Mattis:

   Lack of respect for the dignity and humanity of fellow members of the Department of Defense is unacceptable and counter to unit cohesion, we will not excuse or tolerate such behavior if we are to uphold our values and maintain our ability to defeat the enemy on the battlefield.

3. James Rubin:

   It's a shame that the politics, the pendulum of our political system, has swung so far to the other direction that our President and others are not prepared to take some modest steps to defeat a genuine threat, not the fake threat that was exaggerated 10 years ago.

4. Vice President Biden:

   Vice President Biden talked about how nothing was going to defeat Vice President Biden. How whether Vice President Biden walked again or not, Vice President Biden was not going to give up.

5. Teddy Riner:

   The goal is to win at the Olympics in Tokyo and to be extremely good on D-Day, this defeat is a failure but it will show me what I have to work on. It's also a relief because I had been under tremendous pressure to always win for 10 years.

Popularity rank by frequency of use