Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
defeat (verb)transitive verb
1.
obsolete - destroy
2.
a) - nullify defeat an estate
b) - frustrate defeat a hope
3.
to win victory over - beat defeat the opposing team conquer
1.
frustration by nullification or by prevention of success - the bill suffered defeat in the Senate
2.
obsolete - destruction
3.
a) an overthrow especially of an army in battle
b) the loss of a contest
Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus
defeat (noun)1.
failure to win a contest
SYNONIMS:
beating, drubbing, licking, loss, lump, overthrow, plastering, rout, shellacking, trimming, trouncing, whippingRELATED WORDS:
collapse, debacle ( débâcle), failure, fiasco, fizzle, flop, nonsuccess, setback, upset; lurch, shutout, washout, whitewashNEAR ANTONYMS:
accomplishment, achievement; blowout, cakewalk, landslide, romp, runaway, sweep, walkaway, walkover2.
a falling short of one's goals
SYNONIMS:
collapse, crash, cropper, defeat, fizzle, nonachievement, nonsuccessRELATED WORDS:
futility, uselessness; ineffectiveness, ineffectuality, ineffectualness, inefficaciousness, inefficacy; deficiency, inadequacy, inadequateness, insufficiency; disappointment, letdown, setbackNEAR ANTONYMS:
victory, winto achieve a victory over
SYNONIMS:
best, conquer, defeat, dispatch, do down, get, get around, lick, master, overbear, overcome, overmatch, prevail (over), skunk, stop, subdue, surmount, take, trim, triumph (over), upend, win (against), worstRELATED WORDS:
sweep; edge (out), nose out, pip []; annihilate, blow away, blow out, bomb, break, bury, clobber, cream, crush, drub, finish, flatten, overwhelm, rout, shellac, skin, slaughter, smoke [], snow under, thrash, trounce, upset, wallop, wax [], whip; cap, excel, flourish, score, succeed; knock off, knock over, overpower, overthrow, subjugate, unseat, vanquish; ace (out), better, eclipse, exceed, excel, outdistance, outdo, outfight, outshine, outstrip, overtop, surpass, top, transcendNEAR ANTONYMS:
fall, give up, go down, go under; collapse, fail, flop, flunk, fold, wash out