Other forms: defeated, defeating, defeats
A defeat is the bitter result of losing a game or a battle. A heavy defeat, admit defeat, snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
As a verb it takes an opponent — you defeat somebody — and as a noun it is the outcome. Admit defeat is the fixed phrase for giving up. In law, to defeat a claim is to make it fail. Note that the word once meant to undo or disfigure, which is where the sense of undoing comes from.
1noundefeatThe result of losing a contest or battle.
“The team's defeat in the final left the fans in tears.”
2verbbeatTo beat an opponent.
“Our team defeated the champions in the final.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
defeat is a loss.
Also accepted in games: loss
Middle English defeten comes from an Old French word meaning to undo. The sense of undoing lies behind the modern one.
Middle English
defeten
English, today
defeat
Built from
From Middle English defeten, from Middle English defet (“disfigured”) and defet (“defect”), see Etymology 2 below.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA