defeats

1. 1
   verb

   Third person singular simple present of defeat.

   A well-timed counterattack often defeats an overconfident army.

   Her closing argument defeats every objection the opposing lawyer raises.

   Note

   A verb that almost always needs an object: something defeats someone or something. Beyond battles and contests it also means frustrating an aim, as in a shortcut that defeats its own purpose, and nullifying, as when a technicality defeats a claim. A subject in front of it shows that it is the verb rather than the identical noun plural.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of defeat.

   A string of narrow defeats cost the manager his job.

   The general's early defeats taught him lessons that later shaped his victories.

   Note

   Only the countable uses take a plural. Each one is a separate loss, or a separate victory over someone, as in a string of defeats or the defeats he inflicted on rival armies. The abstract state stays singular and usually goes without an article: a side accepts defeat or bows its head in defeat, never "accepts defeats." The old meaning "destruction, ruin" is obsolete and should not be revived.

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