What does defeat mean

Crossword clues for defeat

defeat

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

defeat

I.noun

COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES

a defeated army

▪ The survivors of his defeated army settled in Provence.

a devastating defeat

▪ The party suffered a devastating defeat in the local election.

a run of defeats/victories etc

▪ His extraordinary run of successes has been stopped.

admission of guilt/defeat/failure etc

▪ Silence is often interpreted as an admission of guilt.

an election victory/defeat

▪ He became prime minister after a decisive election victory.

be doomed to failure/defeat/extinction etc

▪ Many species are doomed to extinction.

conceded defeat

▪ In May 1949, Stalin conceded defeat and reopened land access to Berlin.

crashed to...defeat

▪ Liverpool crashed to their worst defeat of the season.

crushing defeat

▪ The Eighth Army had suffered a crushing defeat.

decisive victory/result/defeat etc

defeat an opponent

▪ She came within three points of defeating her opponent.

defeat the enemy

▪ We will never defeat our enemies unless we stop fighting each other.

heavy defeat

▪ England’s heavy defeat in yesterday’s match

humiliating defeat

▪ a humiliating defeat

ignominious defeat/failure/retreat etc

motion...defeated

▪ The motion was defeated by 201 votes to 159.

risk defeat/death etc

▪ He would prefer not to risk another embarrassing defeat.

▪ Some people are prepared to risk imprisonment for what they believe.

suffer a defeat

▪ The team has now suffered five successive defeats.

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ ADJECTIVE

consecutive

▪ Swindon have suffered three consecutive defeats.

▪ The Dukes are coming off a 73-69 loss to La Salle Monday, their fifth consecutive defeat.

crushing

▪ Formby suffered a crushing 10 wicket defeat at home to local rivals Southport.

electoral

▪ Members of congress increasingly came to believe that they could insulate themselves against electoral defeat by assiduous attention to constituency casework.

▪ Carter suffered the worse electoral defeat of any incumbent President ever, including Herbert Hoover in 1932.

final

▪ He assailed other reactionary regimes sanctified by Napoleon's final defeat, prior to which he toured the Continent.

▪ They could delay, but not prevent, the final defeat.

▪ Sometimes you have to fail to become a winner and we did with League Cup final defeats to Leeds and Swindon.

▪ He wanted to weep at this final defeat, but he was too tired for that.

heavy

▪ Tranmere Rovers went nap in front of their biggest gate of the season to inflict a heavy defeat on promotion chasing West Ham.

▪ The Bears have had two of their scheduled fixtures washed out and suffered a heavy defeat at Edinburgh.

▪ That junior may have to pay for the victory with a heavy defeat in the future.

▪ After his party's heavy defeat in the subsequent general election, Ellis stayed on as chief whip.

▪ Treloar defeated Hammer in an earlier round and, in the final, they inflicted a heavy 184-87 defeat on Eagles.

humiliating

▪ But they knew that it was a humiliating defeat.

▪ Politicians did not relish a repeat performance of the humiliating defeat they had suffered over the suspension and repeal of the acts.

▪ It's always a good laugh watching him getting increasingly irritated with the interviewer after a humiliating defeat.

▪ It was a humiliating defeat for Callaghan.

▪ The referendum was a humiliating defeat for the unpopular Mr Khasbulatov.

▪ But a humiliating defeat at Bradford last Sunday had the Leeds fans spitting fury in radio phone-ins.

▪ The next levy proposed by Wolsey met with an even more humiliating defeat.

▪ The vicious personal attack on him by Ernets Bevin and his humiliating defeat made it impossible for him to remain as leader.

military

▪ The military defeat of Taylor appeared increasingly to be the only option for an end to the conflict.

▪ And even when revolution or military defeat should have opened eyes, distorted versions of reality survive.

▪ The new municipal councils worked only where troops were stationed and with military defeat the system collapsed.

narrow

▪ His inexcusable public blame of goalkeeper Eachus for the narrow defeat against Nicosia, when interviewed for television on arrival at Aldergrove.

▪ Old Parkonians suffered the narrowest of defeats against Tattenhall in the third round of the Cheshire Cup yesterday.

successive

▪ They suffered three successive defeats and it seemed their little party at the top was over.

▪ Three successive defeats, the latest at Stirling, mean Hawick's worst League start.

▪ The Gills were staring at a second successive defeat in the final with just seven minutes of extra time remaining.

▪ They hit a good League run after the Cup knock-out, before two successive defeats checked their progress.

▪ Bears have suffered five successive defeats, including a 47-43 home defeat by Peterborough last week.

▪ Arsenal's second successive league defeat left them eight points behind the leaders and with a considerably inferior goal difference.

▪ This was Wimbledon's eighth successive league defeat.

▪ Darren Bazeley scored the Watford goals for Blackburn's fourth successive defeat.

■ NOUN

cup

▪ New Zealand have already suffered one World Cup defeat.

▪ As for Oxford in the next round - a chance to avenge that awful 4-1 League cup defeat from a few years back once and for all.

election

▪ It directly contributed to our election defeat.

▪ Labour's election defeat has produced two contradictory responses, writes Bryan Gould.

▪ V Out of office for the first time since 1951, the Conservatives threw themselves into policy making after the 1964 election defeat.

▪ In the 60s and 70s the announcement would have been the start of the slippery slope to election defeat.

▪ The Labour party showed little sign of recovering from its election defeat in 1979.

▪ The likely shape of the leadership contest emerged yesterday as Labour began an inquest on its election defeat.

▪ The man with the most to make from Major's election defeat.

home

▪ Newcastle ace Dyer aggravated a long-standing shin problem in Saturday's 1-0 home defeat to Manchester City.

▪ But Penn State won that game, and two weeks later Wisconsin handed Michigan its third home defeat.

▪ The Cowboys handed the Denver Broncos their first home defeat of the season in a 31-27 thriller.

▪ Bears have suffered five successive defeats, including a 47-43 home defeat by Peterborough last week.

▪ At the County Ground, Derby inflicted Swindon's first home defeat of the season.

▪ Prestatyn saw their title ambitions mauled by a bleak home defeat at the hands of St Asaph.

▪ His astonishing attack followed Saturday's 3-0 home defeat by Oxford United.

▪ Pool need to avenge their home defeat to check an alarming slide down the Third Division.

league

▪ Last week the Cherry and Whites suffered their heaviest ever league defeat.

▪ It was Milan's first league defeat since they lost 2-1 at Bari on 19 May, 1991.

▪ Only one league defeat and only seven goals conceded by a mean defence gave Ipswich the crown.

▪ Arsenal's second successive league defeat left them eight points behind the leaders and with a considerably inferior goal difference.

▪ Peacock's strike condemned United to their first League defeat since March.

▪ Given their league defeat at Rotherham the previous week, it represented as good a day as Saracens could have wished for.

▪ This was Wimbledon's eighth successive league defeat.

■ VERB

accept

▪ Hearts tried to muster a response but looked like a side that had already accepted defeat.

▪ This was also carried on a division; the Government accepted their defeat and did not seek to reverse the decision.

▪ He went to work on the President, telling him that to retreat now would be to accept humiliating defeat.

▪ The two wings of authority had accepted defeat and then joined the workforce at the windows.

▪ Not one to accept defeat so easily, she sent her son joe to the place where such records are kept.

▪ He accepted disappointment and defeat with dignity.

▪ Ulysses S.. Grant, also want Broussard to help them bring down those unwilling to accept defeat.

admit

▪ He had already summed her up as some one who hated to admit defeat.

▪ After half an hour she had to admit defeat.

▪ Leafy and Obey stayed away for close to an hour, returning at last after midnight to admit defeat.

▪ The Novartis team put up a valiant fight, but admit defeat.

▪ To leave was to admit defeat in this peculiar ritual of making myself known.

▪ He came wandering towards me, obviously having admitted defeat, and I fell in beside him, companionably in step.

▪ He loathed the boot and complained about it constantly, but he wouldn't admit defeat.

avenge

▪ Pool need to avenge their home defeat to check an alarming slide down the Third Division.

▪ Half a century later he has finally avenged that defeat.

▪ In the last 16 matches tomorrow Duffy plays Dale and will be going out to avenge that defeat over fellow Ulsterman Sharpe.

avoid

▪ Ipswich v Sunderland Ipswich will put together their best run for five years if they avoid defeat against Sunderland.

▪ They would probably have avoided defeat.

▪ Jonathan Speelman must avoid defeat in his seventh game against Jan Timman to stay in the match.

concede

▪ That would be to concede total defeat.

▪ But scientists always say that: Advocates never concede defeat.

▪ I get the impression that the Tories have already conceded defeat.

▪ Swearing-in of new President On Nov. 1 Kaunda conceded defeat after about a third of the results had been publicly declared.

▪ Whoever won would then gracefully concede defeat and accept the winners' roster.

▪ The opposition, alleging fraud, had refused to concede defeat in Guanajuato.

▪ Tyminski declined to concede defeat immediately and claimed that people had been intimidated into voting for Walesa.

crash

▪ Eastwood's try four minutes later sent Leeds crashing to their sixth defeat in nine matches.

crush

▪ There were similar warnings in the 1980s after a crushing defeat for the separatists in the1980 referendum.

end

▪ A horrible series of futile uprisings against impossible odds and always ending in butchery and defeat for the rebels.

▪ First, Athens lost Boiotia in a rising which ended in an Athenian defeat at Coronea.

▪ Rebellions have never succeeded in Ireland; always they have ended in butchery and defeat.

face

▪ No, he was not ready yet to face the defeat.

▪ I stopped and slumped dazedly back on my heels, facing utter defeat.

▪ Barak facing defeat Mr Barak used to argue that his peace policy was a political winner, whatever happened.

▪ Nothing went right for Hallett during his fifth round match, and at 7-1 down, he is facing almost certain defeat.

▪ He said that when the Government realised it faced defeat on amendment 27 it had produced a second legal opinion.

follow

▪ Bruno Giorgi quit as manager of struggling Genoa following their 3-2 home defeat by Cagliari.

▪ Forwards will be axed with a return to a packed midfield following the home defeat by Watford.

▪ This was soon followed by a further defeat for the conservative faction in the Theological Commission.

help

▪ Irate residents helped defeat each proposal.

▪ Residents there helped defeat a plan in the early 1980s for an off- road park in nearby Sycamore Canyon.

humiliate

▪ He went to work on the President, telling him that to retreat now would be to accept humiliating defeat.

inflict

▪ Tranmere Rovers went nap in front of their biggest gate of the season to inflict a heavy defeat on promotion chasing West Ham.

▪ You are going to inflict such a defeat on the enemy that he will never recover.

mark

▪ The anniversary of his coronation seemed destined to be marked by ignominious defeat.

suffer

▪ The Chieftains rarely enjoy their trips to South London, where they suffered their heaviest defeat of the season 16-3 in December.

▪ On 2 March, they suffered their worst defeat of the war outside of Sai-gon.

▪ The 19-year-old from Inverurie has won seven world ranking titles and suffered only four defeats in the past ten months.

▪ Maybe after suffering such a defeat, they would give up.

▪ New Zealand have already suffered one World Cup defeat.

▪ Constitutional discussions Walesa suffered two defeats in the Sejm during December.

▪ Otago did manage to beat Auckland and Carisbrook in 1985, but suffered some solid defeats in later years.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

admit defeat

▪ Haskill refuses to admit defeat and sell the restaurant.

▪ After half an hour she had to admit defeat.

▪ He came wandering towards me, obviously having admitted defeat, and I fell in beside him, companionably in step.

▪ He had already summed her up as some one who hated to admit defeat.

▪ He loathed the boot and complained about it constantly, but he wouldn't admit defeat.

▪ Leafy and Obey stayed away for close to an hour, returning at last after midnight to admit defeat.

▪ The Novartis team put up a valiant fight, but admit defeat.

▪ To leave was to admit defeat in this peculiar ritual of making myself known.

emphatic win/victory/defeat

▪ But Warrington achieved an emphatic win over Widnes with a highly disciplined performance.

▪ Cardiff recorded two emphatic victories in 24 hours, winning 9-2 against Whitley Warriors and 13-2 at Billingham.

▪ It was an emphatic win and a remarkable turnaround in his fortunes.

narrow victory/defeat/majority/margin etc

▪ Adjust the starting point so that you avoid a very narrow margin at the perimeter.

▪ Crowds gathered in central Lima last Sunday night to cheer his narrow victory over former president Alan Garcia.

▪ John F.. Kennedy that helped propel the handsome young Massachusetts Democrat to a narrow victory.

▪ On election night, however, the team squeaked out a narrow victory.

▪ Surprise! the seventh firm won the tender by a narrow margin.

▪ Their relatively late arrival in the quarter coupled with their costs and the narrow margins on the surprise Model 20 impacted earnings.

▪ Was Buzz Calkins' narrow victory over Tony Stewart enough to keep them interested?

▪ While both developer subsidies passed, the narrow margin clearly indicates the voters of this valley are beginning to wise up.

resounding success/victory/defeat etc

▪ At $ 3. 99, a weekday all-you-can-eat lunch buffet proved a resounding success.

▪ His foray into biography is also a resounding success.

▪ It was his most resounding defeat in terms of lengths.

▪ On the one hand, so many victories; on the other, resounding defeat at Trafalgar in 1805.

▪ On the other hand, others have described the issue as a resounding success as all the shares were sold.

▪ That resounding success, moreover, was followed by others.

▪ The organisers claimed the conference was a resounding success.

▪ The outcome - a resounding victory for the home team, not that they appeared particularly surprised.

soundly defeated/beaten/thrashed

▪ In Hayward, a proposed library improvement tax was soundly defeated.

▪ Synthonia are now the only side without a win after they were soundly beaten at Blackhall.

▪ The Republicans were soundly defeated in the South, even in places where there were voting black majorities.

▪ They were led by a fanatical chieftain named Yusuf and Alfonso was soundly defeated at the battle of Sagrajas.

▪ When it came up for a vote in March, it was soundly defeated.

the jaws of death/defeat/despair etc

▪ The shocked priority of examining herself after escaping, literally, from the jaws of death, wore off.

wallow in self-pity/despair/defeat etc

▪ Ego takes great pleasure in wallowing in self-pity, and defending itself against all charges, whatever the cost to others.

▪ Look at the criticism for any opportunity to learn from it and to change, without wallowing in self-pity.

▪ What hope can they have, if they see you slumping about like a filleted herring, wallowing in self-pity?

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

▪ After his third successive election defeat he decided to retire from politics.

▪ an election defeat

▪ In the last game of the season they suffered a humiliating defeat, losing 7-0 to Real Madrid.

▪ It was the Christian Democratic Party's fourth successive electoral defeat.

▪ Mr Taylor blamed bad publicity for his defeat by Mr Jones.

▪ Scotland's defeat of Spain

▪ She retired from the sport after suffering a series of humiliating defeats.

▪ the defeat of Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo

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

▪ The New York Times described the withdrawal of troops as a resounding defeat for the government.

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

▪ A strike is a defeat - a defeat for all.

▪ But they knew that it was a humiliating defeat.

▪ In previous decades this would signify certain defeat for the revolution.

▪ Once broken through, the door was not closed again until the defeat of the Huns at Chalons-sur-Marne in 451.

▪ Religious grumbles continued, but the Government's only serious defeat was over equal pay for women teachers.

▪ The Bob Jones issue was one of the keys to Bush's equally stunning defeat in Michigan only three days later.

▪ They came back from the defeat in Texas to take the next four games.

▪ They would wipe out the shame of their ignominious defeat!

II.verb

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ ADVERB

easily

▪ Five years later, Saints easily defeated a Wigan side depleted by the suspension of hooker Colin Clarke.

▪ As the book opens, his latest target is an Atlanta office building, whose security the Wind Minstrel easily defeats.

▪ Al-Fatah won all nine seats in the chamber, easily defeating Hamas candidates.

▪ Death, however, is not so easily defeated.

▪ Although the right to strike had been established, some of the judges were not to be so easily defeated.

▪ The Examiner survey showed Clinton would easily defeat any of the top Republican challengers if the election were held today.

finally

▪ Soon afterwards the Bolsheviks retook Ekaterinberg and the Whites were finally defeated.

▪ They were finally defeated in a lightning raid on Grozny by Chechen fighters last August.

▪ They were finally defeated and no other enemy entered Attica as long as Theseus lived.

narrowly

▪ A motion on the opening day to put the work of the government to a vote of no confidence was narrowly defeated.

▪ Although they spent only $ 160,600 on their campaign, they narrowly defeated the proposition 51-49 percent.

▪ Our team was narrowly defeated in this year's area final.

▪ The housing project, which had been approved by the town council, was narrowly defeated by public vote.

▪ Auroux narrowly defeated the rival candidate, Henri Emmanuelli, by 113 votes to 109.

▪ Wilder narrowly defeated his Republican opponent in November 1989, his 6,700-vote victory being confirmed only after a recount.

▪ Mrs Field's amendment was narrowly defeated by votes to 21.

soundly

▪ The Republicans were soundly defeated in the South, even in places where there were voting black majorities.

▪ In Hayward, a proposed library improvement tax was soundly defeated.

▪ When it came up for a vote in March, it was soundly defeated.

■ NOUN

amendment

▪ The chances of the Government being defeated when amendment 27 is voted on in a few weeks are now difficult to judge.

▪ Lawmakers passed the bill after defeating two amendments that would have gutted it.

army

▪ Fear is one of the Dark Lord's most powerful weapons yet some of his army are defeated by it.

▪ With the last of the Kislevite armies defeated, the Chaos hordes advanced upon Praag and laid siege to the city.

▪ He had his revenge in March 1322, when he was among the royalist army which defeated Lancaster at Boroughbridge.

▪ A Bretonnian army is defeated by Morglum Necksnapper.

▪ Empire armies were met and defeated.

▪ There was none, and the Red Army was defeated at the gates of Warsaw.

battle

▪ After over a decade of fighting, Basil defeated Samuilo at the battle of Kleidon in 1014.

▪ He is finally met and defeated at the Battle of Osterwald.

▪ About the same time he defeated the Picts in battle.

▪ This will divert forests from disputed uplands where foresters are frequently held up or defeated in long battles with environment groups.

▪ This host defeated the Avars in battle and stormed their camps.

▪ Richard defeated them in a battle between St Maigrin and Bouteville towards the end of May.

bill

▪ The House of Lords defeated the first bill last month.

▪ Moderate Assembly Republicans broke ranks with conservative members to defeat a GOP-sponsored bill that would have returned corporal punishment to the classroom.

▪ After furious debate, the legislature defeated the bill.

candidate

▪ Hitherto defacto president in his capacity as Supreme Soviet Chair, he defeated one other candidate.

▪ There is no private law firm where the defeated candidates can retire.

▪ Auroux narrowly defeated the rival candidate, Henri Emmanuelli, by 113 votes to 109.

▪ Phil Gramm is well-positioned to defeat whichever candidate the Democrats choose to throw at him in November.

▪ Al-Fatah won all nine seats in the chamber, easily defeating Hamas candidates.

▪ In that race, the canvassing board determined that John Hoff defeated write-in candidate Lowell Stevens 265 to 259.

▪ Ivashko defeated three other candidates, polling 278 votes for and 61 against.

▪ But donations to help elect or defeat political candidates have been denied such a subsidy since 1954.

chance

▪ No one suggested that there was an alternative candidate who had a better chance of defeating Heseltine.

▪ Four years ago, Clinton produced an act of symbolism that greatly improved his chances of defeating George Bush.

election

▪ Modern science Two of the fundamentalist board members were defeated in state elections last autumn.

▪ I would like to fight against Milosevic and defeat him in democratic elections.

enemy

▪ The re-enactment with a water bottle celebrated the goal that defeated the auld enemy.

▪ They were finally defeated and no other enemy entered Attica as long as Theseus lived.

▪ The less energy spent in defending, the more strength remains to attack and defeat the enemy.

▪ El Cid upholds his honour and that of his King by defeating an enemy champion in single combat.

government

▪ But when there are advantages from vertical integration, as in aluminium, the multinationals can defeat government policy.

▪ Since the Conservatives took power in 1979, the Lords have defeated the government 179 times.

▪ If the Tory Euro-rebels had defeated the Government the whole treaty would have collapsed.

motion

▪ Eloquence alone was sufficient to defeat the motion.

▪ I do not know if Nico is looking for more time, or trying to defeat the motion.

▪ He remains Prime Minister until he chooses to resign or is defeated on a confidence motion in the House.

▪ Earlier yesterday the government had defeated an opposition censure motion in the lower house of parliament.

object

▪ Water quality would not be improved because of the extra load on the system, which defeats the object.

▪ Hollows attract water, which obviously defeats the object of the exercise: to create a waterproof hat.

▪ Such a procedure, of course, defeats the object of classification.

▪ Mere preservation, however, can lead eventually to decay and thus defeats its object.

▪ This defeats the object of the exercise.

opponent

▪ Wilder narrowly defeated his Republican opponent in November 1989, his 6,700-vote victory being confirmed only after a recount.

▪ Dole survived with a tactic that haunts him to this day: He used the abortion issue to defeat his opponent.

▪ In their first test at the polls as premiers, they were both defeated by conservative opponents.

▪ Both his interventions greatly aided Bill Clinton in defeating his Republican opponents.

▪ She was almost certain to defeat her Republican opponent Maurice Turner, a former police chief, in the November election.

▪ It has leveled the electoral playing field and allowed less well-funded candidates to defeat their better-financed opponents.

party

▪ The liberals had been defeated and the Unionist Party was once again being led by traditional unionists.

▪ If Peres and Labor are defeated, the Likud Party has vowed to put the brakes on the peace movement.

▪ You were depicted laughing at Mr Edward Heath whom you have defeated at the party leadership elections.

proposal

▪ There are a variety of ways of defeating a proposal other than directly speaking against it.

▪ It is that that defeated our Tariff Reform proposal - that and that alone.

purpose

▪ Detailed guidelines defeat the very purpose of guidelines. which is to allow considerable local flexibility and adjustment.

▪ This, of course, defeats the purpose for which the medication is being given.

▪ Inconsistent State practice would only defeat the entire purpose of the convention for a stable regime.

▪ They are defeating the purpose of the Peace Corps and they are unhappy.

▪ Running around in circles and seeing the same old thing defeats half the purpose.

▪ This obviously defeated the purpose of bail, which is to assure that the defendant will appear in court.

▪ But Max's kindness and good manners defeated my purpose totally.

▪ If they become a chore, they defeat the purpose of helping the child to want to interact with you.

team

▪ Our team was narrowly defeated in this year's area final.

▪ Diane Mynors saved us from oblivion by playing in the Oxford Women's first eleven cricket team which defeated Cambridge.

vote

▪ A composite motion demanding the straight forward abolition of the block vote was defeated on a show of hands.

▪ Officials said yesterday Mr Sobyanin had won 51.3 per cent of the vote, defeating the incumbent governor, Leonid Rodetsky.

■ VERB

help

▪ They can also help one another to defeat an attack by rival male baboons that are attempting to take over their shared females.

▪ Ginny DelVecchio talks about her life in the hopes it will help defeat the disease.

▪ But donations to help elect or defeat political candidates have been denied such a subsidy since 1954.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

defeat the purpose

▪ Doesn't this defeat the purpose of producing fruit in the first place?

▪ If they become a chore, they defeat the purpose of helping the child to want to interact with you.

▪ Never remove them and forget to put them back, it defeats the purpose.

▪ They are defeating the purpose of the Peace Corps and they are unhappy.

▪ This also eliminates the need to scroll to find data, which would defeat the purpose of having a command centre.

▪ This anxiety will cause tension which defeats the purpose of the exercise.

▪ This obviously defeated the purpose of bail, which is to assure that the defendant will appear in court.

▪ This, of course, defeats the purpose for which the medication is being given.