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defeat

 - 4 dictionary results

de⋅feat

  [di-feet]
Use defeat in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to overcome in a contest, election, battle, etc.; prevail over; vanquish: They defeated the enemy. She defeated her brother at tennis.
2. to frustrate; thwart.
3. to eliminate or deprive of something expected: The early returns defeated his hopes of election.
4. Law. to annul.
–noun
5. the act of overcoming in a contest: an overwhelming defeat of all opposition.
6. an instance of defeat; setback: He considered his defeat a personal affront.
7. an overthrow or overturning; vanquishment: the defeat of a government.
8. a bringing to naught; frustration: the defeat of all his hopes and dreams.
9. the act or event of being bested; losing: Defeat is not something she abides easily.
10. Archaic. undoing; destruction; ruin.
Origin:
1325–75; ME defeten (v.) < AF, OF desfait, ptp. of desfaire to undo, destroy < ML disfacere, equiv. to L dis- dis- 1 + facere to do

Related forms:
de⋅feat⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. overwhelm, overthrow, rout, check. Defeat, conquer, overcome, subdue imply gaining a victory or control over an opponent. Defeat suggests beating or frustrating: to defeat an enemy in battle. Conquer implies finally gaining control over, usually after a series of efforts or against systematic resistance: to conquer a country, one's inclinations. Overcome emphasizes surmounting difficulties in prevailing over an antagonist: to overcome opposition, bad habits. Subdue means to conquer so completely that resistance is broken: to subdue a rebellious spirit. 2. foil, baffle, balk. 7. downfall.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To defeat
de·feat   (dĭ-fēt')   
tr.v.   de·feat·ed, de·feat·ing, de·feats

  1. To win victory over; beat.

  2. To prevent the success of; thwart: Internal strife defeats the purpose of teamwork.

  3. Law To make void; annul.

n.  

  1. The act of defeating or state of being defeated.

  2. Failure to win.

  3. A coming to naught; frustration: the defeat of a lifelong dream.

  4. Law The act of making null and void.


[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.]
de·feat'er n.
Synonyms: 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, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

defeat 
c.1374, from Anglo-Norm. defeter, from O.Fr. defait, pp. of defaire, from V.L. *diffacere "undo, destroy," from L. dis- "un-, not" + facere "to do, perform" (see factitious). Original sense was of "bring ruination, cause destruction." Military sense of "conquer" is c.1600. Defeatism, defeatist are 1918, from Fr. défaitiste, in reference to the Russians.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: de·feat
Function: transitive verb
Etymology: Anglo-French defait, past participle of defaire to undo, defeat, from Old French deffaire desfaire, from de-, prefix marking reversal of action + faire to do
1 a : to render null defeat an attached but “unperfected” security interest —J. J. White and Railroad S. Summers> b : to prevent or undo the effectiveness or establishment of <defeat jurisdiction> defeated intoxication defense —National Law Journal>
2 a : to prevail over b : to thwart the claim of <defeat creditors> defeat the surviving spouse of his…elective share —Tennessee Code Annotated> —defeat noun
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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