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defeat

   Also found in: Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.09 sec.
de·feat  (d-ft)
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 dh- in Indo-European roots.]

de·feater n.
Synonyms: defeat, conquer, vanquish, beat, rout1, subdue, 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.

defeat
Verb
1. to win a victory over
2. to thwart or frustrate: this accident has defeated all his hopes of winning
Noun
the act of defeating or state of being defeated [Old French desfaire to undo, ruin]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.defeatdefeat - an unsuccessful ending to a struggle or contest; "it was a narrow defeat"; "the army's only defeat"; "they suffered a convincing licking"
conclusion, ending, finish - event whose occurrence ends something; "his death marked the ending of an era"; "when these final episodes are broadcast it will be the finish of the show"
failure - an event that does not accomplish its intended purpose; "the surprise party was a complete failure"
heartbreaker - a narrow defeat or a defeat at the last minute
lurch - a decisive defeat in a game (especially in cribbage)
rout - an overwhelming defeat
shutout, skunk - a defeat in a game where one side fails to score
waterloo - a final crushing defeat; "he met his waterloo"
whitewash - a defeat in which the losing person or team fails to score
triumph, victory - a successful ending of a struggle or contest; "a narrow victory"; "the general always gets credit for his army's victory"; "clinched a victory"; "convincing victory"; "the agreement was a triumph for common sense"
2.defeatdefeat - the feeling that accompanies an experience of being thwarted in attaining your goals
disappointment, letdown - a feeling of dissatisfaction that results when your expectations are not realized; "his hopes were so high he was doomed to disappointment"
Verb1.defeat - 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"
demolish, destroy - defeat soundly; "The home team demolished the visitors"
beat, beat out, vanquish, trounce, crush, shell - come out better in a competition, race, or conflict; "Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship"; "We beat the competition"; "Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game"
wallop - defeat soundly and utterly; "We'll wallop them!"
down - bring down or defeat (an opponent)
overrun - seize the position of and defeat; "the Crusaders overran much of the Holy Land"
skunk, lurch - defeat by a lurch
rout, rout out, expel - cause to flee; "rout out the fighters from their caves"
upset - defeat suddenly and unexpectedly; "The foreign team upset the local team"
nose - defeat by a narrow margin
conquer - overcome by conquest; "conquer your fears"; "conquer a country"
make it, pull round, pull through, survive, come through - continue in existence after (an adversity, etc.); "He survived the cancer against all odds"
2.defeatdefeat - thwart the passage of; "kill a motion"; "he shot down the student's proposal"
negative, veto, blackball - vote against; refuse to endorse; refuse to assent; "The President vetoed the bill"

defeat
verb 1. beat, crush, overwhelm, conquer, stuff (slang) master, worst, tank (slang) overthrow, lick (informal) undo, subdue, rout, overpower, quell, trounce, clobber (slang) vanquish, repulse, subjugate, run rings around (informal) wipe the floor with (informal) make mincemeat of (informal) pip at the post, outplay, blow out of the water (slang) << OPPOSITE surrender
verb 2. frustrate, foil, thwart, ruin, baffle, confound, balk, get the better of, forestall, stymie
Translations
defeat [dɪˈfiːt] nderrota
vtderrotar, vencer;
(fig) [+ efforts]; frustrar

defeat [dɪˈfiːt] ndéfaite f
vt [+ team, opponents] → battre (fig) [+ plans, efforts]; faire échouer

defeat [dɪˈfiːt] vtbesiegen, schlagen
n (failure) → Niederlage f;
(of enemy);
defeat (of) → Sieg m (über +acc)

defeat [dɪˈfiːt] nsconfitta
vt [+ team, opponents] → sconfiggere;
(fig) [+ plans, efforts]; frustrare

defeat
v defeat [diˈfiːt]
to win a victory over They defeated our team by three goals; We will defeat the enemy eventually. verslaan, oorwin, klop يَتَغَلَّب عَلى، يَفوز، يَقْهَر، يَهْزِم побеждавам porazit slå; besejre besiegen νικώ vencer, derrotar (kedagi) võitma شکست دادن؛ مغلوب کردن voittaa battre לְהָבִיס हराना, विजय पाना potući, poraziti legyőz mengalahkan sigra sconfiggere 負かす 이기다 nugalėti sakaut mengalahkan verslaan beseire, vinne over pokonać derrotar a obţine o vic­to­rie; a în­vinge наносить поражение poraziť premagati poraziti besegra, slå เอาชนะ yenmek 戰勝,擊敗 розбивати; завдавати поразки ہرانا đánh bại
n
the loss of a game, battle, race etc His defeat in the last race depressed him; We suffered yet another defeat. nederlaag هَزيمَه، إنْدِحار، إنْكِسار загуба porážka nederlag die Niederlage ήττα derrota lüüasaamine, kaotus شکست؛ باخت tappio, häviö défaite תְּבוּסָה हार, असफल करना poraz vereség kekalahan ósigur sconfitta 敗北 패배, 실패 pralaimėjimas sakāve kekalahan nederlaag tap, nederlag porażka derrota înfrângere поражение porážka poraz poraz nederlag, förlust ความพ่ายแพ้ yenilgi 戰勝,擊敗 поразка شکست sự thất bại
adj deˈfeated
(negativeundefeated) a defeated enemy. verslaan, oorwonne مَهْزوم، مَقْهور победен poražený slået; besejret besiegt ηττημένος derrotado võidetud مغلوب؛ شکست خورده lyöty battu מוּבָס पराजित poražen, pobijeđen legyőzött dikalahkan sigraður sconfitto 負けた 진, 패한 nugalėtas sakauts dikalahkan verslagen slått, beseiret, overvunnet pokonany derrotado învins потерпевший поражение porazený poražen poražen besegrad, slagen ที่พ่ายแพ้ yenilmiş, mağlup 戰敗的 розбитий; той, що зазнав поразки ناکام bị đánh bại
n deˈfeatism
a state of mind in which one expects and accepts defeat too easily The defeatism of the captain affects the rest of the players. défaitisme, pessimisme إنْهِزامِيَّه пораженство defétismus defatisme; selvopgivelse die Miesmacherei ηττοπάθεια derrotismo lüüasaamispoliitika شکست گرایی؛ یأس و بدبینی tappiomieliala défaitisme תְבוּסתָנוּת पराजयवाद malodušnost kishitűség pesimisme uppgjafarandi disfattismo 敗北主義 패배주의(적인 행동) defetizmas, nesitikėjimas laimėti sakāvniecība pesimisme defaitisme nederlagspolitikk, defaitisme defetyzm derrotismo defetism пораженчество defetizmus malodušnost malodušnost defaitism แนวคิดหรือการกระทำของผู้ยอมรับหรือคาดว่าจะพ่ายแพ้หรือไม่ประสบความสำเร็จ bozgunculuk, pes etme 失敗主義 пораженство, поразництво ہزیمت خوردگی tư tưởng chủ bại
n / adj deˈfeatist
(of) a person who gives up too easily and is too easily discouraged She is such a defeatist; She has a defeatist attitude to life. défaitis, pessimis, touopgooier إنْهِزامي пораженец opgivende; defatist der Miesmacher ηττοπαθής derrotista allaandja شکست گرا؛ ناامید luovuttaja défaitiste תְּבוּסתַן पराजयवादी malodušnik kishitű pesimis uppgjafarsinni disfattista 敗北主義者 패배주의자(의) pesimistinis sakāvnieks; pesimists; sakāvniecisks; pesimistisks orang yang berputus asa defaitistisch selvoppgivende, defaitist defetysta derrotista defetist пораженец porazenec; porazenecký malodušnež defetista defaitist ผู้พ่ายแพ้; ซึ่งมีแนวโน้มจะล้มเหลว สิ้นหวัง หรือพ่ายแพ้ çabuk pes eden 失敗主義者;失敗主義的 пораженець, поразник ہزیمت خوردہ người có tư tưởng chủ bại 者;


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He was not cast down by this defeat of his plan, for, upon studying the affair carefully, he could not but admit that the objections were very formidable.
All places submitted to the Mahometan, whose insolence increased every day with his power; and nothing after the defeat of the Portuguese was supposed able to put a stop to the progress of his arms.
We have fully concentrated forces of nearly seventy thousand men with which to attack and defeat the enemy should he cross the Lech.
 
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