defeat
[verb]
Synonyms:
- beat, conquer, crush, master, overwhelm, rout, trounce, vanquish, wipe the floor with (informal)
- frustrate, baffle, balk, confound, foil, get the better of, ruin, thwart
[noun]
Synonyms:
- conquest, beating, overthrow, pasting (slang), rout
- frustration, failure, rebuff, reverse, setback, thwarting

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Antonyms: victory
Contrasted words: capitulate, defer, give in, submit, back down, withdraw, conquest, triumph, gaining, securing, winning, ascendancy, supremacy
Related Idioms: beat all hollow, get the better of, grind into the dust, have by the short hairs
Related Words: bar, block, hinder, impede, obstruct, repress, suppress, outfight, outgame, nose out, bafflement, check, foil, frustration, rebuff, repulse, reversal, reverse, setback, cleaning, cleanup, clobbering, lambasting

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English Thesaurus: beat, defeat, trounce, thrash, wipe the floor with somebody, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. de‧feat¹ W3 /dɪˈfiːt/ noun [uncountable and countable]
[Word Family: noun: defeat, defeatism, defeatist; adjective: defeatist, defeated ≠ UNDEFEATED; verb: defeat]

1. failure to win or succeed
defeat in
The socialist party suffered a crushing defeat in the elections.
She was a woman who hated to admit defeat.

2. victory over someone or something
defeat of
The defeat of the army was followed by the establishment of constitutional government.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. defeat² W3 verb [transitive]
[Word Family: noun: defeat, defeatism, defeatist; adjective: defeatist, defeated ≠ UNDEFEATED; verb: defeat]
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: Anglo-French; Origin: defeter 'to destroy', from Medieval Latin disfacere, from Latin facere 'to do']

1. to win a victory over someone in a war, competition, game etc Synonym : beat:
They hoped to defeat the enemy at sea.
defeat somebody by something
We were defeated by 3 goals to 2.

REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say beat rather than defeat when talking about sport, games, or elections:
We were beaten by 3 goals to 2.

2. if something defeats you, you cannot understand it and therefore cannot answer or deal with it Synonym : beat:
It was the last question on the paper that defeated me.

3. to make something fail
defeat the object/purpose (of the exercise)
Don’t let your arms relax as that would defeat the object of the exercise.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

defeat
noun
ADJ. bitter, catastrophic, complete, comprehensive, crushing, decisive, devastating, disastrous, heavy, humiliating, ignominious, overwhelming, resounding, serious, stunning Their party suffered a heavy defeat in the election. The battle ended in a humiliating defeat.
narrow They lost 4?3 in their second narrow defeat of the week.
consecutive, successive | election, electoral, political | military
VERB + DEFEAT accept, admit, concede She is very determined, and will never admit defeat. The prime minister conceded defeat and resigned.
face | go down to, slump to, to suffer The team went down to their fifth consecutive defeat.
reverse A skilful politician can always reverse any defeats.
avoid We just need to avoid defeat in our last two matches.
inflict The army inflicted a heavy defeat on rebel forces.
end in | lead to
PREP. ~ against last week's crushing defeat against Manchester United
~ by their defeat by the French
PHRASES defeat at the hands of sb The team suffered defeat at the hands of their oldest rivals.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

defeat
verb
ADV. comprehensively, convincingly, decisively, easily, heavily, soundly, totally The English were heavily defeated by the Scots in the battle that followed. The proposed bill was decisively defeated in Parliament.
narrowly Our team was narrowly defeated in the final.
eventually, finally, ultimately
PREP. by The motion was defeated by 20 votes to 18.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

defeat

suffer a defeat (=be defeated)
The party suffered a defeat in the state elections.
inflict a defeat on somebody (=defeat someone, especially easily)
The army inflicted a heavy defeat on the English.
admit defeat
If I left my job, I would be admitting defeat.
accept defeat
It can be very hard to accept defeat.
concede defeat (=formally accept that you have lost in a game, election etc)
His opponent conceded defeat.
face defeat (=be likely to be defeated)
In May 1945 Germany faced defeat at the hands of the Allies.
a big/bad defeat (also a heavy defeat British English) (=by a large amount)
The polls were forecasting a heavy defeat for the President.
a crushing/resounding defeat (=a complete defeat, by a very large amount)
He quit as Prime Minister following a crushing defeat in regional elections.
a humiliating defeat (=very embarrassing)
They are still bitter about their humiliating defeat.
a disastrous defeat (=very big, and with a very bad result)
The party suffered a disastrous defeat in the 2006 election.
a narrow defeat (=by a small amount)
The goalkeeper was blamed for the team’s narrow defeat.
an election/electoral defeat
It was their worst general election defeat since 1982.
a military defeat
The president resigned following a series of military defeats.
a shock defeat British English (=very unexpected)
Arsenal are now out of the competition, following their shock defeat by Torquay Town.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

beat to get more points, votes etc than someone. Beat is used especially in spoken English:
We should have beaten them easily.
I always beat my brother at tennis.
defeat to beat someone. Defeat is more formal than beat and is used especially in writing:
England were defeated by 2 goals to 1.
Bush defeated Kerry in the election.
trounce /traʊns/ to defeat someone completely in a game:
They were trounced 20–0 by Kuwait.
thrash British English informal, cream American English informal to beat someone very easily in a game:
Of course, they totally creamed the other team.
I hope we thrash them!
wipe the floor with somebody informal to beat someone completely in a game or argument:
She wiped the floor with her opponent in the debate.
They won a £1,000 prize after wiping the floor with the opposition in a bowling competition.
grate to cut cheese, carrot etc into small pieces by rubbing it against a special tool:
Grate the cheese and sprinkle it over the top of the pasta.
melt to make butter, chocolate etc become liquid:
Melt the butter, chocolate, and 1 teaspoon of cream over a low heat.
sieve British English, sift American English to put flour or other powders through a sieve (=tool like a net made of wire, which you use for removing larger grains or pieces):
Sift the flour and cocoa before adding to the rest of the mixture.
chop to cut something into pieces, especially using a big knife:
Chop up the vegetables.
dice to cut vegetables or meat into small square pieces:
Dice the carrots and then fry them in butter.
season to add salt, pepper etc to food:
Season the meat before grilling.
crush to use a lot of force to break something such as seeds into very small pieces or into a powder:
Add one clove of crushed garlic.
mix to combine different foods together:
Mix together all the ingredients in one bowl.
beat/whisk to mix food together quickly with a fork or other tool:
Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks.
stir to turn food around with a spoon:
Stir the sauce gently to prevent burning.
fold something in to gently mix another substance into a mixture:
Fold in the beaten egg whites.
knead to press dough (=a mixture of flour and water) many times with your hands when you are making bread:
Knead the dough for ten minutes, until smooth.
drizzle to slowly pour a small amount of a liquid onto something:
Drizzle with olive oil.
let something stand to leave something somewhere, before you do something else with it:
Let the mixture stand for a couple of hours so that it cools naturally.
serve to put different foods together as part of a meal:
Serve with rice and a salad.
Serve the aubergines on a bed of lettuce.
tired feeling that you want to sleep or rest:
I was really tired the next day.
the tired faces of the children
exhausted extremely tired:
I was exhausted after the long trip home.
He sat down, exhausted.
She immediately fell into an exhausted sleep.
worn out [not before noun] very tired because you have been working hard:
With three small children to care for, she was always worn out.
weary /ˈwɪəri $ ˈwɪr-/ written tired because you have been travelling, worrying, or doing something for a long time:
weary travellers
a weary sigh
He looks tired and weary after 20 years in office.
fatigued formal very tired:
They were too fatigued to continue with the climb.
Because of her illness, she often became fatigued.
drained [not before noun] very tired and feeling as if all your energy has gone:
Afterwards, he felt drained, both physically and mentally.
bushed/beat [not before noun] informal very tired:
I’m bushed. I think I’ll go to bed early.
I’m beat. I don’t think I’ll go for a run tonight.
knackered British English, pooped American English [not before noun] informal very tired. Knackered is a very informal use - do not use it in polite conversation:
By the time I got home I was absolutely knackered.
shattered [not before noun] British English informal extremely tired:
When I first started teaching, I came home shattered every night.
dead spoken extremely tired, so that you cannot do anything but sleep:
I was absolutely dead by the time I got home.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲