Tra từ defeat - Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

de·feat [defeat defeats defeated defeating] verb, noun BrE [dɪˈfiːt] NAmE [dɪˈfiːt]
verb
1. ~ sb/sth to win against sb in a war, competition, sports game, etc.
Syn: ↑beat
• He defeated the champion in three sets.
•a defeated army
• The government was defeated by 200 votes to 83.
2. ~ sth to stop sth from being successful
• The motion was defeated by 19 votes.
• Staying late at the office to discuss shorter working hours rather defeats the object of the exercise!
3. ~ sb (formal)if sth defeats you, you cannot understand it
•The instruction manual completely defeated me.
Verb forms:

Word Origin:
late Middle English (in the sense ‘undo, destroy, annul’): from Old French desfait ‘undone’, past participle of desfaire, from medieval Latin disfacere ‘undo’.

Thesaurus:
defeat verb T
•The Scots defeated the English at the Battle of Bannockburn.
beat • • get the better of sb • |especially BrE, informal thrash • |AmE, informal whip • |written overcome • • rout • • trounce • |formal best • • prevail • |literary vanquish •
Opp: lose to sb
defeat/beat/thrash/whip/rout/trounce sb by 10 points/4 goals, etc.
defeat/beat/get the better of/thrash/whip/overcome/rout/trounce/vanquish an opponent
defeat/beat/overcome/rout/vanquish an enemy
Defeat or beat? Defeat is more often used to talk about winning against one opponent in a particular contest, vote or battle
•The government were defeated by 198 votes to 70.
Beat is more often used to talk about winning against one or many opponents in a game, competition or race
•She won the 100 metres, beating a number of top European runners.

Example Bank:
•He said it was impossible to defeat the terrorists militarily.
•Our team was narrowly defeated in the final.
•The English were decisively defeated by the rebels in the battle that followed.
•The motion was defeated by 20 votes to 18.
•The proposed bill was decisively defeated in Parliament.
•The senator was decisively defeated by his rivals.
•An opposition vote of no confidence was decisively defeated in parliament.
•Question 6 defeated us.
•She narrowly defeated the rival candidate in the leadership contest.

noun
1. uncountable, countable failure to win or to be successful
• The party faces defeat in the election.
•a narrow/heavy defeat
• The world champion has only had two defeats in 20 fights.
•They finally had to admit defeat (= stop trying to be successful).
2. countable, usually singular the act of winning a victory over sb/sth
•the defeat of fascism

Word Origin:
late Middle English (in the sense ‘undo, destroy, annul’): from Old French desfait ‘undone’, past participle of desfaire, from medieval Latin disfacere ‘undo’.

Example Bank:
•A skilful politician can always reverse any defeats.
•She is very determined, and will never admit defeat.
•The army inflicted a heavy defeat on rebel forces.
•The battle ended in a humiliating defeat.
•The prime minister conceded defeat and resigned.
•The team suffered defeat at the hands of their oldest rivals.
•The team went down to their fifth consecutive defeat.
•Their party suffered a heavy defeat in the election.
•They lost 4–3 in their second narrow defeat of the week.
•They turned a military defeat into a media victory.
•We just need to avoid defeat in our last two games.
•last week's crushing defeat against Manchester United
•their defeat by the Brazilians
•He almost pulled off a shock defeat of the reigning champion.
•He was gracious in defeat, acknowledging his opponent's greater skill.
•They finally had to admit defeat.
•They played a key role in Wellington's defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo.