FluentPlex

defeat

/dɪˈfit/ verb B1
  1. To overcome in battle or contest. (transitive) · Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.
  2. To reduce, to nothing, the strength of. (transitive)
  3. To nullify (transitive)
  4. To prevent (something) from being achieved.

Plural defeat · He/she/it defeats · Past defeated · Past participle defeated · -ing form defeating

+ Save to review

Verb forms

Base form
defeat
He/she/it
defeats
Past
defeated
Past participle
defeated
-ing form
defeating

From the library

“Another hope defeated!” said the count.
The Count of Monte Cristo, p. 910 · C1
Then Josie Pye dared Jane Andrews to hop on her left leg around the garden without stopping once or putting her right foot to the ground; which Jane Andrews gamely tried to do, but gave out at the third corner and had to confess herself defeated.
Anne of Green Gables, p. 173 · C1
Anne no longer wished to win for the sake of defeating Gilbert; rather, for the proud consciousness of a well-won victory over a worthy foeman.
Anne of Green Gables, p. 300 · C1
For a moment Anne felt one sickening pang of defeat and disappointment.
Anne of Green Gables, p. 304 · C1

Other matches

Learn defeat in real texts

With a free account, hover any word in the library for its meaning, hear it read aloud, save words for review timed to your memory, and see how much of each book you already know.

Create free account
Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.