go down to defeat
idiom
: to fail or lose : to be defeated
The bill went down to defeat in the House.
Examples of go down to defeat in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Taylor Swift spent the game in a box with the Haim sisters and Ice Spice, loyally watching her team go down to defeat, in a down-home Daisy Dukes outfit.
—
Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 10 Feb. 2025
None of this precludes further developments that could lead another nominee to withdraw due to controversy or scandal, or that one nominee could go down to defeat on the Senate floor — something that hasn't happened since 1989.
—Geoffrey Skelley, ABC News, 19 Dec. 2024
The palpable fear is that Biden will not only go down to defeat, restoring Trump to the Oval Office, but also take the Democrats’ Senate majority and their hopes of regaining the House with him.
—Karen Tumulty, Washington Post, 10 July 2024
However, on the same night, Charles Herbster – the candidate Trump endorsed and for whom Trump held a rally in Nebraska’s GOP gubernatorial primary – lost, becoming the first of the candidates backed by the former president this year to go down to defeat.
—Paul Steinhauser, Fox News, 18 May 2022
Who predicted the No. 1 seeds in the Southern Section and City Section volleyball playoffs would go down to defeat in the championship matches?
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2022
Rahm and Hatton refused to go down to defeat.
—USA TODAY, 25 Sep. 2021
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Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 10 Feb. 2025
None of this precludes further developments that could lead another nominee to withdraw due to controversy or scandal, or that one nominee could go down to defeat on the Senate floor — something that hasn't happened since 1989.
—Geoffrey Skelley, ABC News, 19 Dec. 2024
The palpable fear is that Biden will not only go down to defeat, restoring Trump to the Oval Office, but also take the Democrats’ Senate majority and their hopes of regaining the House with him.
—Karen Tumulty, Washington Post, 10 July 2024
However, on the same night, Charles Herbster – the candidate Trump endorsed and for whom Trump held a rally in Nebraska’s GOP gubernatorial primary – lost, becoming the first of the candidates backed by the former president this year to go down to defeat.
—Paul Steinhauser, Fox News, 18 May 2022
Who predicted the No. 1 seeds in the Southern Section and City Section volleyball playoffs would go down to defeat in the championship matches?
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2022
Rahm and Hatton refused to go down to defeat.
—USA TODAY, 25 Sep. 2021
Cite this Entry
“Go down to defeat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/go%20down%20to%20defeat. Accessed 6 Jul. 2025.
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