defeat

B1 Topic:Sports & Fitness

US /dɪˈfiːt/ See IPA manual

Freq #2920

Meanings

1

verb
To win against someone in a battle, game, or contest.

Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.
2

noun
The fact of losing a battle, game, or contest.

The team suffered a narrow defeat in the final.
3

verb
To prevent something from succeeding.

Heavy rain defeated all their attempts to finish the match.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to win against someone in a... beat conquer

2 noun · the fact of losing a... loss

3 verb · to prevent something from... thwart foil

More convince flog humblemalavoguemurdelizeoutfoxoutguess outrun outsmart outwit overcome

Opposites

capitulate forfeit lose relinquish surrender victory yield

Word family

Forms defeateddefeatingdefeats

Derived forms defeatabledefeaticandefeatinglydefeatlessdefeatocratredefeatself-defeatingundefeatabilityundefeatable

Related forms defeasancedefeasibledefeaterdefeatismdefeatistdefeature

Etymology

From Middle English defet, from French deffet, desfait, past participle of the verb desfaire (compare modern French défaire), from des- + faire.

defet Middle English deffet French

View etymology graph ->

External links

# defeat

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** /dɪˈfiːt/
**Frequency rank:** 2920

## Meanings
1. To win against someone in a battle, game, or contest.
2. The fact of losing a battle, game, or contest.
3. To prevent something from succeeding.

## Examples
- Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.
- The team suffered a narrow defeat in the final.
- Heavy rain defeated all their attempts to finish the match.

## Synonyms
- beat
- convince
- flog
- humble
- malavogue
- murdelize
- outfox
- outguess
- outrun
- outsmart
- outwit
- overcome

## Antonyms
- capitulate
- forfeit
- lose
- relinquish
- surrender
- victory
- yield

## Derived Forms
- defeatable
- defeatican
- defeatingly
- defeatless
- defeatocrat
- redefeat
- self-defeating
- undefeatability
- undefeatable

## Related Forms
- defeasance
- defeasible
- defeater
- defeatism
- defeatist
- defeature

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: defet
- Root: deffet

## Etymology
From Middle English defet, from French deffet, desfait, past participle of the verb desfaire (compare modern French défaire), from des- + faire.

## AI Etymology
defeat comes from Middle English defet, from French deffet, desfait, past participle of the verb desfaire (compare modern French défaire), from des- + faire. The historical chain includes Middle English defet, French deffet. Current senses include to win against someone in a battle, game, or contest and The fact of losing a battle, game, or contest. English relatives and later formations include defeatable, defeatican, defeatingly, defeasance, defeasible.

## Topics
- Sports & Fitness

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defeat

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