 4 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
defeat
noun
1: an unsuccessful ending [syn: {licking}] [ant: {victory}]
2: the feeling that accompanies an experience of being thwarted
in attaining your goals [syn: {frustration}]
verb
1: win a victory over; "You must overcome all difficulties";
"defeat your enemies"; "He overcame his shyness"; "She
conquered here fear of mice"; "He overcame his
infirmity"; "Her anger got the better of her and she
blew up" [syn: {get the better of}, {overcome}]
2: thwart the passage of; "kill a motion"; "he shot down the
student's proposal" [syn: {kill}, {shoot down}, {vote down},
{vote out}]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Defeat \De*feat"\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Defeated}; p. pr. & vb.
n. {Defeating}.] [From F. d['e]fait, OF. desfait, p. p. ofe
d['e]faire, OF. desfaire, to undo; L. dis- + facere to do.
See {Feat}, {Fact}, and cf. {Disfashion}.]
1. To undo; to disfigure; to destroy. [Obs.]
His unkindness may defeat my life. --Shak.
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. --Tillotson.
The escheators . . . defeated the right heir of his
succession. --Hallam.
In one instance he defeated his own purpose. --A. W.
Ward.
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. --Shak.
Syn: To baffle; disappoint; frustrate.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Defeat \De*feat"\, noun [Cf. F. d['e]faite, fr. d['e]faire. See
{Defeat}, v.]
1. An undoing or annulling; destruction. [Obs.]
Upon whose property and most dear life
A damned defeat was made. --Shak.
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}.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
212 Moby Thesaurus words for "defeat":
KO, Waterloo, answer, answer conclusively, argue down, baffle,
bafflement, balk, balking, bankruptcy, bar, bear down,
bear the palm, beat, beat all hollow, beat down, beat hollow,
beating, best, betrayed hope, bilk, blast, blasted expectation,
blighted hope, block, blow, brave, bring down, buffet, cast down,
challenge, check, checkmate, circumvent, cleaning, cleanup,
clobber, clobbering, comedown, confound, confounding, confront,
confute, conquer, conquest, contradict, contravene, controvert,
cook, counter, counteract, countermand, counterwork, cross,
cruel disappointment, crush, dash, dashed hope, debacle,
defeasance, defeat expectation, defy, demolish, deny, destroy,
disappoint, disappointment, discomfit, discomfiture, disconcert,
disconcertion, discountenance, dish, disillusion, disillusionment,
dismiss, dispose of, disrupt, dissatisfaction, dissatisfy, do for,
do in, downcast, downthrow, drub, drubbing, dusting, elude, end,
failure, fallen countenance, fiasco, finish, fix, fizzle, floor,
flummox, foil, foiling, forlorn hope, frustrate, frustration,
futility, hide, hinder, hope deferred, hors de combat, ill success,
impede, knock out, knock the chocks, lambaste, lambasting, lather,
let down, letdown, lick, licking, losing game, mirage, miscarriage,
no go, nonaccomplishment, nonplus, nonsuccess, obstruct, outclass,
outdo, outfight, outgeneral, outmaneuver, outpoint, outrun,
outsail, outshine, overcome, overpower, overthrow, overturn,
overwhelm, parry, perplex, prevail over, put, put to silence,
rebuff, rebut, reduce, reduce to silence, refute, repress, repulse,
reversal, reverse, rise above, rout, ruin, sabotage, scotch,
scuttle, setback, settle, shellacking, shoot down, shut up,
silence, sink, skin, skin alive, smash all opposition,
sore disappointment, spike, spoil, squash, squelch, stonewall,
stop, stump, subdue, subjugate, subvert, successlessness, suppress,
surmount, take the cake, tantalization, tantalize, tease,
terminate, thrash, thrashing, thwart, thwarting, torpedo, trim,
triumph, triumph over, trounce, trouncing, undermine, undo,
undoing, unsuccess, unsuccessfulness, upset, uselessness, vanquish,
vanquishment, warming, whip, win, worst
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