as in overcoming
to achieve a victory over
they defeated their archrivals easily and moved into the next round of the play-offs
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Recent Examples of defeating
Polls show the race tightening as Mamdani looks to hold his lead after defeating Cuomo in a stunning upset in the June primary.
—
Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 3 Nov. 2025
His team fell one win — one run — short of defeating baseball’s behemoth in the World Series.
—Mitch Bannon, New York Times, 2 Nov. 2025
And yet, somehow, the nearly two-touchdown-underdog Carolina Panthers surprised one of the best teams in the NFL on Sunday, defeating the Green Bay Packers, 16-13 — thanks to great defense and a final drive that was punctuated by a 49-yard kick from rookie Ryan Fitzgerald as time expired.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 2 Nov. 2025
In 2024, Westerman easily won reelection, defeating Democrat Risie Howard with 73% of the vote.
—Arkansas Online, 31 Oct. 2025
Depending on the district tiebreakers, and a Viking win against Grand Prairie next week, Lamar is in good shape on point differential, losing to Haltom by 1 point and defeating Arlington High by 14.
—Darren Lauber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 31 Oct. 2025
The Toronto Blue Jays took a 3-2 series lead after defeating the Dodgers 6-1 in Game 5 Wednesday night.
—Chantz Martin, FOXNews.com, 30 Oct. 2025
The Chiefs are on a three-game winning streak after defeating the Washington Commanders.
—Skyler Caruso, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
Behind Wemby's strong contributions, the Spurs also won their first three games, defeating the Brooklyn Nets, Dallas Mavericks, and New Orleans Pelicans.
—Matthew Couden, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025
Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 3 Nov. 2025
His team fell one win — one run — short of defeating baseball’s behemoth in the World Series.
—Mitch Bannon, New York Times, 2 Nov. 2025
And yet, somehow, the nearly two-touchdown-underdog Carolina Panthers surprised one of the best teams in the NFL on Sunday, defeating the Green Bay Packers, 16-13 — thanks to great defense and a final drive that was punctuated by a 49-yard kick from rookie Ryan Fitzgerald as time expired.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 2 Nov. 2025
In 2024, Westerman easily won reelection, defeating Democrat Risie Howard with 73% of the vote.
—Arkansas Online, 31 Oct. 2025
Depending on the district tiebreakers, and a Viking win against Grand Prairie next week, Lamar is in good shape on point differential, losing to Haltom by 1 point and defeating Arlington High by 14.
—Darren Lauber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 31 Oct. 2025
The Toronto Blue Jays took a 3-2 series lead after defeating the Dodgers 6-1 in Game 5 Wednesday night.
—Chantz Martin, FOXNews.com, 30 Oct. 2025
The Chiefs are on a three-game winning streak after defeating the Washington Commanders.
—Skyler Caruso, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
Behind Wemby's strong contributions, the Spurs also won their first three games, defeating the Brooklyn Nets, Dallas Mavericks, and New Orleans Pelicans.
—Matthew Couden, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defeating
Verb
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Key challenges to commercialization include creating a material that is both safe and highly conductive and overcoming the high costs of mass production.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
2 Nov. 2025
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Castellani and Muritiba spoke about how the United States can learn from Brazil and their country’s history of overcoming fascism.—
Andrew McGowan,
Variety,
29 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Dogs begin by mastering basic obedience before moving on to specialized tasks that support their handler’s unique needs.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Oct. 2025
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Even so, the idea that telling lies could win you an enormous sum of money faster than mastering facts fits in with the shifting realities of our times.—
Snigdha Poonam,
The Dial,
28 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The foetal beat of air beats all around Helm like a beating heart (must elegantly variate).—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
-
In March 2019, a week before the letter was published, the Axeman attacked the Cortimiglia family, beating grocery owner Charlie and his wife Rosie with an axe.—
Emily Blackwood,
PEOPLE,
2 Nov. 2025
Verb
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And when was conquering ever a good thing?—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Oct. 2025
-
These terrorists are going about on a jihad and conquering territories and renaming them accordingly.—
Paul Tilsley,
FOXNews.com,
7 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The only recourse those unregulated bookmakers had when their Spidey-senses tingled was to simply stop taking bets on the suspicious game.—
David Hill,
Rolling Stone,
31 Oct. 2025
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After taking an early 3-0 lead and forcing the Ravens to punt on their opening series, Tahj Washington fumbled after a catch and Baltimore’s Alohi Gilman scooped it up and returned it to Miami’s 7, setting up Jackson’s first touchdown pass to Mark Andrews.—
Andre Fernandez,
Miami Herald,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Other younger-generation consumers say there’s really no advantage to using cash and complain that getting some wastes time.—
Sydney Lake,
Fortune,
1 Nov. 2025
-
See all the stars getting SCAD to the bone below.—
EW Staff,
Entertainment Weekly,
1 Nov. 2025
Verb
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After dispatching Matt last week, the Ulis took Jason out this week to give themselves the numbers heading towards another tribe swap next week.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
23 Oct. 2025
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This aunt would look into the ball and see the face of some distant relative, and then announce that the family would be having an unexpected visitor, before dispatching someone to the butcher’s to buy the very best pork chops for the occasion.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Look for signs like the cat stopping purring, stiffening, thrashing their tail, or hissing.—
Maria Azzurra Volpe,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
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Despite the logic gleaned from the accounting books arguing to the contrary, spending is showing no signs of stopping.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
31 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Defeating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defeating. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
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