defeat

de|feat¹ W3 [dıˈfi:t] n [U and C]

1.) failure to win or succeed

▪ She was a woman who hated to admit defeat .

▪ The Democratic Party candidate has already conceded defeat .

defeat in

▪ The socialist party suffered a crushing defeat in the French elections.

▪ The captain offered no excuses for his team's humiliating defeat .

▪ Italy's narrow defeat in their game with Germany

▪ They inflicted a heavy defeat on the Government's plans to tighten asylum controls.

2.) victory over someone or something

defeat of

▪ The defeat of the army was followed by the establishment of constitutional government.

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COLLOCATES for sense 1

admit/accept/concede defeat

suffer a defeat (=experience a defeat)

a heavy/humiliating/crushing/resounding defeat

a narrow defeat (=by only a small amount)

inflict a defeat on somebody

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defeat ²

defeat² v [T]

[Date: 1300-1400; : 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

= ↑beat

▪ They hoped to defeat the enemy at sea.

defeat sb by sth

▪ Newcastle were defeated by 3 goals to 2.

2.) if something defeats you, you cannot understand it and therefore cannot answer or deal with it

= ↑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.