defeat

n. 败北, 失败
vt. 击败, 使落空
【经】 败诉

名词:defeater 动词过去式:defeated 过去分词:defeated 现在分词:defeating 第三人称单数:defeats 

de.feat

v.tr.（及物动词）
de.feat.ed,de.feat.ing,de.feats
To win victory over; beat.
战胜；击败
To prevent the success of; thwart:
阻挠…的成功；挫败：
例句：
Internal strife defeats the purpose of teamwork.
内部争斗挫伤了团队合作的目的

Law To make void; annul.
【法律】 使…作废；废除
n.（名词）
The act of defeating or state of being defeated.
战胜，战败：击败的行为，或被击败的状况
Failure to win.
失败
A coming to naught; frustration:
毁灭：变得什么都没有；摧毁：
例句：
the defeat of a lifelong dream.
毕生梦想的破灭

Law The act of making null and void.
【法律】 废除：使…作废和无效

来源：
Middle English defeten
中古英语 defeten
from defet [disfigured]
源自 defet [使变丑]
from Old French desfait [past participle of] desfaire [to destroy]
源自 古法语 desfait [] desfaire的过去分词 [毁灭]
from Medieval Latin disfacere [to destroy, mutilate, undo]
源自 中世纪拉丁语 disfacere [毁灭，毁坏，取消]
Latin dis- [dis-]
拉丁语 dis- [表示"除去"]
Latin facere [to do] * see dhô-
拉丁语 facere [做] *参见 dhô-

【引伸】
defeat.er
n.（名词）
<参考词汇><同义词>defeat,conquer,vanquish,beat,rout,subdue,subjugate,overcomeThese verbs mean to get the better of an adversary.
这些动词都表示战胜对手的意思。
Defeat is the most general:
Defeat 最普通：
例句：
.Whether we defeat the enemy in one battle, or by degrees,the consequences will be the same. (Thomas Paine).
.无论我们是在一次战斗中击败敌人，还是逐步地击败他们，结果都会是一样的. （托马斯·潘恩）。

Conquer suggests decisive and often wide-scale victory:
Conquer 含有决定性的、经常是大规模的胜利的意思：
例句：
.A conquering army on the border will not be halted by the power of eloquence. (Otto von Bismarck).
.边境上打了胜仗的军队不会因为雄辩的力量而停止前进的. （奥托·冯·俾斯麦）。

Vanquish emphasizes total mastery:
Vanquish 强调完全的控制：
例句：
The forces of Napoleon were vanquished at Waterloo.
拿破仑的军队在滑铁卢全军覆没。

Beat, less formal, is often the equivalent ofdefeat, thoughbeat may convey greater emphasis:
Beat 比较不正式，常作为defeat 的对等词语， 尽管beat 可以传递更大的强调意义：
例句：
.To win battles . . . you beat the soul . . . of the enemy man. (George S. Patton).
.要打胜仗，你就得打败敌人的灵魂. （乔治·S·巴顿）。

Rout implies complete victory followed by the disorderly flight of the defeated force:
Rout 含有败军溃散后紧接着的全胜：
例句：
An entire division was routed during the first hours of the war.
在战争的头几个小时中，整师就彻底溃败了。

Subdue suggests mastery and control achieved by overpowering:
Subdue 含有因为力量过于强大而打败和控制的意思：
例句：
.It cost [the Romans] two great wars, and three great battles, to subdue that little kingdom [Macedonia] . (Adam Smith).
. 发动了两次大规模的战争和三次大规模的战役才完全制服那个小王国 . （亚当·史密斯）。

Subjugate more strongly implies reducing an opponent to submission:
Subjugate 更强烈地含有迫使对手降服的意思：
例句：
.The last foreigner to subjugate England was a Norman duke in the Middle Ages named William. (Stanley Meisler). To
.最后一个制服英格兰的外国人是中世纪一个叫威廉的罗马公爵. （斯坦尼梅斯勒）。

overcome is to prevail over, often by persevering:
Overcome 指胜过，经常是通过坚持不懈的努力：
例句：
overcome an enemy;
战胜敌人；

例句：
overcome temptation;
克服诱惑；

例句：
overcome a physical handicap.
克服身体上的残疾