Meaning & use
defeat
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To beat someone or something in a fight, game, or contest and so win.
Grammar: Always takes an object: defeat the champion. You cannot say defeat without saying who.
Patterns
- defeat someone
- defeat someone in something
- defeat someone by a score
The home team defeated their rivals three to one.
She defeated the defending champion in straight sets.
The army defeated the invaders at the river.
verbtransitive
To cause a plan, effort, or proposal to fail.
Grammar: Takes an object: defeat a motion, defeat the purpose.
Patterns
- defeat a motion
- defeat the purpose of something
Members voted to defeat the proposed law.
Using a calculator would defeat the purpose of the exercise.
The weather defeated every attempt to climb the peak.
nouncountable or uncountable
The experience of being beaten, or an occasion when you lose a contest or struggle.
Grammar: Countable for a single loss: a heavy defeat. Uncountable for the idea: he refused to accept defeat.
Patterns
- suffer a defeat
- admit defeat
- a defeat for someone
The team suffered a crushing defeat on Saturday.
After hours of trying, she finally admitted defeat.
The vote was a defeat for the government.
Word forms
| third person singular | defeats |
|---|---|
| past tense | defeated |
| past participle | defeated |
| -ing form | defeating |
| plural | defeats |
Common combinations
- narrowly defeat
- The challenger narrowly defeated the champion.
- suffer a defeat
- The party suffered a defeat in the local elections.
- admit defeat
- He refused to admit defeat even when behind.
- crushing defeat
- It was a crushing defeat for the visitors.
- defeat the purpose
- Skipping the practice would defeat the purpose of the course.
- accept defeat
- They accepted defeat gracefully.
Synonyms and how they differ
- beat
- Beat is the casual everyday word, and it is used for games and arguments, while defeat sounds a little more formal and serious.
- conquer
- Conquer usually means taking control of a place or a large challenge, going beyond just winning.
- overcome
- Overcome is often used for problems, fears, and obstacles rather than for opponents in a match.
- loss
- Loss is the noun for not winning, but defeat emphasizes being beaten by someone.
Opposites
Word family
- defeated adjective
- beaten or feeling hopeless
- defeatism noun
- expecting failure and giving up
- defeatist noun
- a person who expects to fail
- undefeated adjective
- never beaten
Commonly confused: defeat or defeat?
defeat vs defeat
Do not confuse it with 'deface' or 'defect'; defect means a fault or to leave a country or group.
Practice
The challenger ___ the champion in the final round.
Choose one answer.
Defeated means beat in a contest. Deferred and delayed mean postponed, and deleted means removed.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “defeat”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.