admit defeat
idiom
: to admit that one has been defeated
Although she did poorly in the first round, she has refused to admit defeat.
Examples of admit defeat in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The American military, meanwhile, suggested that to pursue détente was to admit defeat.
—
Niall Ferguson, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
They’ve also been forced to defend that decision because Virginia officials have decided to keep fighting rather than admit defeat.
—Theresa Vargas, Washington Post, 18 Nov. 2023
Instead the drama remains mostly psychological, as hunger takes its toll and the holdouts one by one admit defeat, with the ailing Numo among the last of them.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Sep. 2023
Or even if Trump’s rivals beat him in early primary contests, how will party officials get the former president to admit defeat?
—Chuck Todd, NBC News, 29 June 2023
Read the full Libra Daily Horoscope Scorpio (October 23 - November 21) Refusing to admit defeat?
—USA TODAY, 10 June 2023
Regulators in the United Kingdom have succeeded in doing something the U.S. government has, so far, failed to do: Get Facebook to admit defeat.
—Chris Morris, Fortune, 18 Oct. 2022
Once hitting an ideas wall, amateurs will admit defeat.
—Jodie Cook, Forbes, 1 Sep. 2021
Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman has been forced to admit defeat in his attempt to engineer a complex Spac — or blank check — deal to buy 10% of Universal Music Group for about $4 billion.
—Hanna Ziady, CNN, 19 July 2021
Niall Ferguson, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
They’ve also been forced to defend that decision because Virginia officials have decided to keep fighting rather than admit defeat.
—Theresa Vargas, Washington Post, 18 Nov. 2023
Instead the drama remains mostly psychological, as hunger takes its toll and the holdouts one by one admit defeat, with the ailing Numo among the last of them.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Sep. 2023
Or even if Trump’s rivals beat him in early primary contests, how will party officials get the former president to admit defeat?
—Chuck Todd, NBC News, 29 June 2023
Read the full Libra Daily Horoscope Scorpio (October 23 - November 21) Refusing to admit defeat?
—USA TODAY, 10 June 2023
Regulators in the United Kingdom have succeeded in doing something the U.S. government has, so far, failed to do: Get Facebook to admit defeat.
—Chris Morris, Fortune, 18 Oct. 2022
Once hitting an ideas wall, amateurs will admit defeat.
—Jodie Cook, Forbes, 1 Sep. 2021
Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman has been forced to admit defeat in his attempt to engineer a complex Spac — or blank check — deal to buy 10% of Universal Music Group for about $4 billion.
—Hanna Ziady, CNN, 19 July 2021
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'admit 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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Cite this Entry
“Admit defeat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/admit%20defeat. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.
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