defeat

UK/dɪˈfiːt//dɪˈfit/

defeat verb: to overcome in battle or contest.

Verb

defeat (third-person singular simple present defeats, present participle defeating, simple past and past participle defeated)

(transitive) To overcome in battle or contest.
- Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.
- The Japanese defeated the Ming general Tsu Chʻeng-hsün 祖承訓 at Pʻing jang 平壤 in 1592, the first year of Bunroku 文祿 of Japan, and the fighting continued for some years; but at Hideyoshi's death the Japanese troops left Korea.1917, Samuel Couling, “Japanese Relations with China”, in The Encyclopaedia Sinica, Literature House, Ltd., published 1964, →OCLC, page 255, column 2
(transitive) To reduce, to nothing, the strength of.
- He finds himself naturally to dread a superior Being that can defeat all his designs, and disappoint all his hopes.1664, John Tillotson, “Sermon I. The Wisdom of Being Religious. Job XXVIII. 28.”, in The Works of the Most Reverend Dr. John Tillotson, Late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: […], London: […] B. Aylmer...
- In one instance he defeated his own purpose.1879, Adolphus Ward, “Chaucer”, in English Men of Letters
(transitive) To nullify
- The escheators […] defeated the right heir of his succession.1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George II. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], →OCLC
To prevent (something) from being achieved.
- The last active L.Y.R. 0-6-0ST (apart from works shunters), No. 51408, has been moved from Bolton to Agecroft for use in New Bailey Yard, Salford, where a sharp 1 in 27 curve is said to have defeated all attempts so far to employ diesel shunters; an ex-L.Y.R. 0-4-0ST also works here.1962 January, “Motive Power Miscellany: London Midland Region: Central Lines”, in Modern Railways, page 60

Noun

defeat (countable and uncountable, plural defeats)

The act or instance of being defeated, of being overcome or vanquished; a loss.
- Licking their wounds after a temporary defeat, they planned their next move.
- Two defeats in five games coming into this contest, and a draw with Everton, ultimately cost Sir Alex Ferguson's side in what became the most extraordinary finale to the league championship since Arsenal beat Liverpool at Anfield in 1989.2012 May 13, Alistair Magowan, “Sunderland 0-1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport
The act or instance of defeating, of overcoming, vanquishing.
- The inscription records her defeat of the country's enemies in a costly war.
Frustration (by prevention of success), stymieing; (law) nullification.
- ... is subsequently issued to him, in accordance with his perfect equity thus acquired, by a legal fiction which the law creates for the protection, but not for the defeat, of his title.1909, The Southern Reporter, page 250
- She could see no justice in being forced into a position that promised to end in further humiliation and defeat of her hopes.2008, Gene Porter, A Daughter of the Land, volume 1, →ISBN, page 17
(obsolete) Destruction, ruin.
- and made defeat of her virginity1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...

defeat meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

defeat in Hindi

to overcome in battle or contest: हराना harānā, जीतना jītnā
the act of being defeated, of losing: हार hār, शिकस्त śikast, पराजय parājay
the act of defeating, of overcoming or winning against: हराना harānā, जीतना jītnā

defeat in Tamil

to overcome in battle or contest: தோற்கடி tōṟkaṭi
the act of being defeated, of losing: தோல்வி tōlvi, இழப்பு iḻappu, தோல்வியடைதல் tōlviyaṭaital, தோற்கடிக்கப்படுதல் tōṟkaṭikkappaṭutal
the act of defeating, of overcoming or winning against: தோற்கடிப்பு tōṟkaṭippu

defeat in Marathi

defeat: पराजय parājay, भंग bhaṅga
defeat, discomfiture, overthrow: पराभव parābhav
defeat, failure: हार hār
to defeat, beat, conquer: हरवणे haravṇe

defeat in Urdu

to overcome in battle or contest: شکست دینا šikast dēnā
the act of being defeated, of losing: شِکَسْت śikast, ہار hār

More languagesFewer languages

defeat in Bengali: হারানো haranō, হারা hara, পরাজয় porajoẏ
defeat in Telugu: ఓడించు ōḍiñcu
defeat in Malayalam: പരാജയം parājayaṁ, തോൽവി tōlvi
defeat in Kannada: ಅಕರಣಿ akaraṇi
defeat in Punjabi: ہار hār, ਹਾਰ hār, ਭਾਂਜ bhāñj
defeat in Gujarati: હરાવવું harāvvũ, હાર hār
defeat in Odia: ଅଧ୍ୱ adhwa
defeat in Sanskrit: जयति jayati, सहते sahate, पराजय parājaya
defeat in Nepali: हराउनु harāunu, पराजित गर्नु parājit garnu
defeat in Pashto: شکست šekast, مغلوبيت maǧlubyat
defeat in Arabic: غَلَبَ ḡalaba, هَزَمَ hazama, هَزِيمَة hazīma, مَغْلُوبِيَّة maḡlūbiyya
defeat in Malay: kalahkan, kekalahan
defeat in Indonesian: mengalahkan, kekalahan
defeat in Persian: شکست دادن šekast dâdan, مغلوب کردن maġlub kardan
defeat in Thai: ชนะ chá-ná, เอาชนะ ao-chá-ná, ปราบ bpràap, การปราชัย gaan-bpà-raa-chai
defeat in Vietnamese: đánh bại, sự thất bại
defeat in Myanmar: အရှုံး a.hrum:

Examples of defeat in a sentence

It'll be a long journey home for the travelling supporters after that 5-0 defeat.
When you defeat this boss, there's a chance a power-up will drop.
He acted in good faith to restore broken diplomatic ties after defeating the incumbent.

All 40 example sentences with defeat

Synonyms of defeat

22 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

2 more antonymsFewer antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of defeat

Forms of defeat

Verb
third-person singular present	defeats
present participle	defeating
past participle	defeated
past	defeated
second-person singular present (archaic)	defeatest
second-person singular past (archaic)	defeatedst
third-person singular present (archaic)	defeateth
Noun
plural	defeats

Past tense of defeat: defeated

Plural of defeat: defeats

Origin of defeat

From Middle English defeten, from Middle English defet (“disfigured”, past participle) and defet (“defect”, noun), see Etymology 2 below.

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

Words formed from defeat

Phrases with defeat

Words that rhyme with defeat

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about defeat

What does defeat mean?: Defeat means to overcome in battle or contest.
What is defeat in Hindi?: Defeat in Hindi is हराना (harānā), जीतना (jītnā), हार (hār). See Defeat meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is defeat?: Defeat can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce defeat?: Defeat is pronounced /dɪˈfiːt/ (UK).
What is the past tense of defeat?: The past tense of defeat is defeated.

Words near defeat in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: defeat (page history and authors); पराजय (Marathi) (page history and authors); തോൽവി (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ಅಕರಣಿ (Kannada) (page history and authors); ہار (Punjabi) (page history and authors); હરાવવું (Gujarati) (page history and authors); ଅଧ୍ୱ (Odia) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-defeat.ogg.

Cite this entry: “defeat.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/defeat. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.