How to Use defeat in a Sentence

defeat

1 of 2 verb
  • The bill was defeated in the state senate.
  • Scientists from around the world are working to defeat the disease.
  • We must be ready to defeat our enemies in battle.
  • Our candidate defeated him in the last election.
  • She finally found a solution to a problem that had defeated many other researchers.
  • The poll showed Biden would defeat Trump in the state by five points.
    Brian Bushard, Forbes, 29 Nov. 2023
  • The Witches defeated the Falcons (0-2) for the first time in 15 years.
    Nate Weitzer, BostonGlobe.com, 15 Sep. 2023
  • The last couple of months, Tatum has felt defeated at times.
    Journal Sentinel, 18 Mar. 2024
  • If the Bears defeat the Packers to improve to 8-9, Chicago will finish third and the Vikings will be fourth.
    Christopher Kuhagen, Journal Sentinel, 7 Jan. 2024
  • This year was at home against a team the Toreros had defeated 2-0 in September.
    Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Nov. 2023
  • In this game, each basket is worth 1 point and the freshman class defeats the sophomore class 5-4.
    Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024
  • But not everyone backs a pause in violence; some in the crowd said defeating Hamas would be the best way to bring the hostages home.
    Alexander Smith, NBC News, 31 Oct. 2023
  • The Lady Knights defeated six teams in the final home meet to end the regular season 16-4.
    Miami Herald, 30 Jan. 2024
  • The pair set off on major adventures around the globe searching for ways to defeat Black Manta.
    Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Dec. 2023
  • When Yeni got back from the appointment, she felt defeated.
    Stephania Taladrid, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2024
  • Japan defeated Norway on Saturday, 3-1, in the round of 16.
    Sean Gregory, Time, 6 Aug. 2023
  • Nixon objected to the hiring of Vanocur, who was known to be close to Kennedy, who defeated him in the 1960 presidential race.
    Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024
  • Phillips has laid out one chief campaign goal: Ensuring Democrats defeat Trump in 2024.
    Geoffrey Skelley, ABC News, 31 Oct. 2023
  • Less than an hour in, the first racer waved his boat over and struggled aboard, defeated by the appalling conditions.
    Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2023
  • Without much daylight between Roth and himself, Green didn’t have as strong a desire to defeat him.
    Jonathan Edwards, Washington Post, 5 Dec. 2023
  • Every Marvel movie has that scene where the hero, nearly defeated, rises to his feet.
    Peter Sohn, Men's Health, 31 May 2023
  • Four days later, Faus struck out four and walked one in an 8-0 win against Downey, which defeated Cypress earlier in the season.
    Dan Albano, Orange County Register, 10 Apr. 2024
  • The Marines training to protect commercial ships will have to arm themselves to defeat a variety of threats.
    Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 8 Aug. 2023
  • In order to defeat Boswer, players collect the eponymous Wonder seeds.
    WIRED, 20 Oct. 2023
  • And over in the Soft Baits region, another 7 seed (the underdog Worm) defeated the 2-seed Jerkbait.
    Shaye Baker, Field & Stream, 20 Mar. 2024
  • The group was defeated in Syria, losing its last sliver of land in 2019, but its sleeper cells remain in both countries.
    Qassim Abdul-Zahra The Associated Press, arkansasonline.com, 25 Feb. 2024
  • Any resources that could be useful for defeating a Chinese attack along the first island chain should be reserved to that end.
    Time, 14 July 2023
  • His remarks focused on what Israel shouldn’t do in Gaza rather than on how to defeat the Hamas terrorists who are still holding around 140 hostages.
    Garry Kasparov, WSJ, 10 Dec. 2023
  • With the Voice defeated, hopes for a federal commission to explore treaty-making and truth-telling appear to be dashed.
    Michael E. Miller, Washington Post, 20 Oct. 2023
  • Kulkarni defeated Horlander again in a rematch two years later, racking up about 78% of the vote.
    The Courier-Journal, 19 Mar. 2024
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defeat

2 of 2 noun
  • We weren't prepared for defeat.
  • One small error could make the difference between success and defeat.
  • After several tries we were forced to accept defeat.
  • They celebrated their defeat of the enemy.
  • The Nuggets' center had a game-high 53 points in the defeat.
    Tyler Dragon, USA TODAY, 8 May 2023
  • For Cole, the grand slam, spearheaded by the Reyes at-bat, signaled defeat.
    Julian McWilliams, BostonGlobe.com, 19 Aug. 2023
  • The move ends one, but not all, of her court cases related to her 2022 defeat.
    Stacey Barchenger, The Arizona Republic, 5 Mar. 2024
  • In five games, the Jaguars’ average margin of defeat is 102.2 points.
    Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Jan. 2024
  • The only defeats by Las Lomas this season occurred before the start of the new year.
    Joseph Dycus, The Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2024
  • For those who aren’t so lucky to win the cool billion, a sweet sugary treat will at least help wash out that bitter taste of defeat.
    Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY, 1 Aug. 2023
  • Rozier closed the defeat with 27 points, six rebounds and 11 assists.
    Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 8 Mar. 2024
  • After that, defeat devices seemed to lose traction for a while.
    Faiz Siddiqui, Washington Post, 7 July 2023
  • The Bearcats went 1-4 after the dismissal of the two coaches beating Houston on the road, then losing the next four with three of those being one-run defeats.
    Scott Springer, The Enquirer, 24 May 2023
  • Up by one goal on their rival from Los Angeles, the Wave allowed a pair of scores in the final 22 minutes and took a 2-1 defeat.
    Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 June 2023
  • Turning over the ball 15 times and never winning the turnover game factored into the Chargers’ five defeats.
    Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Jan. 2024
  • And make no mistake: The defeat of Ohio’s Issue 1 is undoubtedly due to that large turnout.
    Alex Thomas, The New Republic, 9 Aug. 2023
  • For every big victory, there will be at least one small defeat.
    Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2024
  • And with Goliath, their champion, now slain, the Philistines accept defeat.
    Lawrence D. Freedman, Foreign Affairs, 23 Feb. 2024
  • The Padres spent the previous night bludgeoning them, pounding away at a bullpen that collapsed in an 11-run defeat.
    Rainer Sabin, Detroit Free Press, 23 July 2023
  • The loss likely irked the famously intense New York sports fan, but Lee could at least leave the defeat knowing his watch game was a homerun.
    Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 16 Aug. 2023
  • After three young Black players missed penalty kicks in the 2021 defeat, they were subjected to racist slurs.
    Mark Landler, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2023
  • The monologue pivots around the moment when Israel was on the brink of defeat and Meir awaits word of military support from the United States.
    Terry Byrne, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Aug. 2023
  • Hitler and Goebbels, of course, died by their own hands in defeat, having left tens of millions of Europeans dead and their country in ruins.
    Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2024
  • Both Flynn and Bannon played a key role in Trump’s attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
    Marshall Cohen, CNN, 17 July 2023
  • Their final home game ended Wednesday night with a 67-57 loss to Boston College, their eighth defeat in a row.
    Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 7 Mar. 2024
  • There are numerous scenarios, too, in which even a defeat — coupled with a Norway win or tie to the Philippines — could push the Swiss through.
    Jim Reineking, USA TODAY, 28 July 2023
  • And if past experience is a gauge, then the president and his AK Party may not take a defeat lying down.
    Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN, 12 May 2023
  • Following the defeat of Issue 1, LaRose blamed the loss on the spending from outside interests.
    Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 9 Aug. 2023
  • Of his losses, Figueiredo has one TKO loss, one submission setback and a single decision defeat.
    Trent Reinsmith, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
  • Some Republicans, pointing to recent electoral defeats for antiabortion causes, have warned of a political backlash in the general election against strict bans.
    Beth Reinhard, Washington Post, 1 Apr. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'defeat.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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