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defeat
(redirected from defeater)

   Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.01 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
Spanish defeat [dɪˈfiːt] nderrota
vtderrotar, vencer;
(fig) [+ efforts]; frustrar

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

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

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

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Perhaps the most significant feature of religious reason, and perhaps the feature from which all the other differences between religious reason and secular reason derive, is the oft-touted claim by believers that religious reasons carry an infallible supreme authority that guarantees the truth of such claims against all potential epistemic defeaters.
The greatest defeater of the Sekk is Istar, a warrior woman and daughter of one of the original Company of Glass.
 
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