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# defeat

verb (defeat, defeats, defeated, defeating); noun (a defeat, defeats; defeat, uncountable)

«defeat» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. To defeat means to win against someone in a game, fight, war or vote: "we defeated the visiting team". [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/defeat/#m1)
2. (noun) A defeat is a loss, the failure to win: "a 3–0 defeat". [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/defeat/#m2)
3. To defeat something can mean to stop it from working or succeeding: "defeating the purpose". [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/defeat/#m3)
4. To be defeated by a problem means to fail to solve it: "the last question defeated me". [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/defeat/#m4)
5. To admit defeat means to give up. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/defeat/#m5)

### In the lessons

In sport reports and history, defeat tells who lost a match or battle. In maths, a team's record counts wins, draws and defeats (losses); points tables use them. In stories, the hero finally defeats the villain. Phrases: suffer a defeat, admit defeat, a crushing defeat, defeat the purpose, a narrow defeat.

### Examples

- Our team defeated the champions 2–1. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/defeat/#x1)
- It was their first defeat of the season. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/defeat/#x2)
- The knight defeated the dragon. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/defeat/#x3)
- Won 8, drawn 2, defeats 3: the team played 13 games. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/defeat/#x4)
- The last puzzle defeated everyone in the class. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/defeat/#x5)
- I couldn't open the jar, so I admitted defeat. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/defeat/#x6)
- Leaving the fridge open defeats the purpose of having one. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/defeat/#x7)
- He made war with all his neighbours, and defeated them. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/defeat/#x8)

### Note

Past: defeated. The opposite of a defeat is a victory or a win. "Defeat" (beat) takes an object: "We defeated them", not "We defeated". Adjective "defeated" also means sad and beaten in spirit.

## In Jewish tradition

In sport reports and history, defeat tells who lost a match or battle. In maths, a team's record counts wins, draws and defeats (losses); points tables use them. In stories, the hero finally defeats the villain. Phrases: suffer a defeat, admit defeat, a crushing defeat, defeat the purpose, a narrow defeat.

### Note

Past: defeated. The opposite of a defeat is a victory or a win. "Defeat" (beat) takes an object: "We defeated them", not "We defeated". Adjective "defeated" also means sad and beaten in spirit.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «defeat» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/defeat/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«defeat» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/defeat.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «defeat» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/D/defeat/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«defeat» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/defeat.html) on Mova free.