defeat

詳細解釋：

de.feat

v.tr.（及物動詞）
de.feat.ed,de.feat.ing,de.feats
To win victory over; beat.
戰勝；擊敗
To prevent the success of; thwart:
阻撓…的成功；挫敗：
例句：
Internal strife defeats the purpose of teamwork.
內部爭鬥挫傷了團隊合作的目的

Law To make void; annul.
【法律】 使…作廢；廢除
n.（名詞）
The act of defeating or state of being defeated.
戰勝，戰敗：擊敗的行為，或被擊敗的狀況
Failure to win.
失敗
A coming to naught; frustration:
毀滅：變得什麼都沒有；摧毀：
例句：
the defeat of a lifelong dream.
畢生夢想的破滅

Law The act of making null and void.
【法律】 廢除：使…作廢和無效

來源：
Middle English defeten
中古英文 defeten
from defet [disfigured]
源自 defet [使變醜]
from Old French desfait [past participle of] desfaire [to destroy]
源自 古法文 desfait [] desfaire的過去分詞 [毀滅]
from Medieval Latin disfacere [to destroy, mutilate, undo]
源自 中世紀拉丁語 disfacere [毀滅，毀壞，取消]
Latin dis- [dis-]
拉丁語 dis- [表示"除去"]
Latin facere [to do] * see dhô-
拉丁語 facere [做] *參見 dhô-

【引伸】
defeat.er
n.（名詞）
<參考辭彙><同義詞>defeat,conquer,vanquish,beat,rout,subdue,subjugate,overcomeThese verbs mean to get the better of an adversary.
這些動詞都表示戰勝對手的意思。
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).
.無論我們是在一次戰鬥中擊敗敵人，還是逐步地擊敗他們，結果都會是一樣的. （托馬斯·潘恩）。

Conquer suggests decisive and often wide-scale victory:
Conquer 含有決定性的、經常是大規模的勝利的意思：
例句：
.A conquering army on the border will not be halted by the power of eloquence. (Otto von Bismarck).
.邊境上打了勝仗的軍隊不會因為雄辯的力量而停止前進的. （奧托·馮·俾斯麥）。

Vanquish emphasizes total mastery:
Vanquish 強調完全的控制：
例句：
The forces of Napoleon were vanquished at Waterloo.
拿破崙的軍隊在滑鐵盧全軍覆沒。

Beat, less formal, is often the equivalent ofdefeat, thoughbeat may convey greater emphasis:
Beat 比較不正式，常作為defeat 的對等詞語， 儘管beat 可以傳遞更大的強調意義：
例句：
.To win battles . . . you beat the soul . . . of the enemy man. (George S. Patton).
.要打勝仗，你就得打敗敵人的靈魂. （喬治·S·巴頓）。

Rout implies complete victory followed by the disorderly flight of the defeated force:
Rout 含有敗軍潰散後緊接著的全勝：
例句：
An entire division was routed during the first hours of the war.
在戰爭的頭幾個小時中，整師就徹底潰敗了。

Subdue suggests mastery and control achieved by overpowering:
Subdue 含有因為力量過於強大而打敗和控制的意思：
例句：
.It cost [the Romans] two great wars, and three great battles, to subdue that little kingdom [Macedonia] . (Adam Smith).
. 發動了兩次大規模的戰爭和三次大規模的戰役才完全制服那個小王國 . （亞當·史密斯）。

Subjugate more strongly implies reducing an opponent to submission:
Subjugate 更強烈地含有迫使對手降服的意思：
例句：
.The last foreigner to subjugate England was a Norman duke in the Middle Ages named William. (Stanley Meisler). To
.最後一個制服英格蘭的外國人是中世紀一個叫威廉的羅馬公爵. （斯坦尼梅斯勒）。

overcome is to prevail over, often by persevering:
Overcome 指勝過，經常是通過堅持不懈的努力：
例句：
overcome an enemy;
戰勝敵人；

例句：
overcome temptation;
克服誘惑；

例句：
overcome a physical handicap.
克服身體上的殘疾