DEFEAT • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Defeat

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/dɪfˈit/ Listen

noun

Defeat n.

1.

An undoing or annulling; destruction. (Obs.) "Upon whose property and most dear life A damned defeat was made."

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.

verb

Defeat v. t. (past & past part. defeated; pres. part. defeating)

1.

To undo; to disfigure; to destroy. (Obs.) "His unkindness may defeat my life."

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." "The escheators... defeated the right heir of his succession." "In one instance he defeated his own purpose."

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."

Synonyms: To baffle; disappoint; frustrate.

See images of 'Defeat'

Etymology of 'Defeat'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Defeat" Quotes from Famous Books

... been accorded to him on this floor. But in this discussion I cannot and will not forget that the welfare and rights of my whole race in this country are involved. When, therefore, the honorable gentleman from Georgia lends his voice and influence to defeat this measure, I do not shrink from saying that it is not from him that the American House of Representatives should take lessons in matters touching human rights or the joint relations of the State and national governments. While the honorable gentleman contented himself with harmless ...

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... of the election for governor and lieutenant-governor was practically settled by the nomination of an anti-masonic independent ticket. Thurlow Weed advised Smith Thompson that votes enough to defeat him would be thrown away upon Southwick. Van Buren wrote Hamilton to "bet for me on joint-account five hundred dollars that Thompson will be defeated, and one hundred dollars on every thousand of a majority up to five thousand; or, ...

— A Political History of the State of New York, Volumes 1-3 • DeAlva Stanwood Alexander

... heroes, the Cid, Bernardo del Carpo, and Pelayo, are to this day a vital part of the belief and poetry of the lower classes in Spain, and are revered as they were hundreds of years ago. The wandering Mulateers still sing of Guarinos and of the defeat at Roncesvalles as they did when Don Quixote heard them on his way to Toboso; and the street showmen in Seville rehearse to this day the same wonderful adventures that the Don saw in the Inn at Montesinos. The Chronicles developed among the more refined and educated ...

— The Interdependence of Literature • Georgina Pell Curtis

... justify the assertion that there is no such basis, or that it is not discoverable by man. Surely, it is unreasonable to make intellectual death the condition of spiritual life. If such a condition were imposed on man, it must inevitably defeat its own purpose; for man cannot possibly continue to live a divided life, and persist in believing that for which his reason knows no defence. We must, in the long run, either rationalize our faith ...

— Browning as a Philosophical and Religious Teacher • Henry Jones

... 'His lofty brows in folds do figure death.' Cosroe describes him as 'His fortune's master and the king of men.' His own speeches and actions reveal no unsuspected flaw, no unworthy weakness; rather they almost defeat their own purpose by their exaggeration of his greatness. It would be possible to show by numerous quotations how Marlowe has everywhere selected epithets and imagery of magnitude to enhance the impressiveness ...

— The Growth of English Drama • Arnold Wynne

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