as in overcoming
to achieve a victory over
they defeated their archrivals easily and moved into the next round of the play-offs
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of defeating
Trump has not endorsed a candidate, raising the likelihood of a June 16 runoff that would burn more time and money before the party can focus on defeating Ossoff.
—
ABC News, 18 May 2026
Darby Allin defended his AEW World Championship twice in one week, defeating Konosuke Takeshita and Sammy Guevara.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 18 May 2026
And how about Orange Lutheran defeating Chino Hills 17-14.
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2026
Smalley, Matti Schmid and Nick Taylor are here mainly because of hot putting, while Rahm and Åberg are really the only two at the top who are defeating the course.
—Brendan Quinn, New York Times, 17 May 2026
With the San Antonio Spurs defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves, 4-2, in their Western Conference playoff series, the Western Conference Finals are now set.
—Adam Zagoria, Forbes.com, 16 May 2026
Kansas’ softball team celebrated its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 11 years by defeating Michigan 1-0 on Friday.
—Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 16 May 2026
In the process of winning 14 straight division championships from 1991-2005, Cox appeared in four other World Series, losing to Gillick’s Blue Jays in 1992 and the Yankees in 1996 and ’99 but defeating the Indians in 1995.
—Bill Madden, New York Daily News, 9 May 2026
In the sequel, the Sanderson sisters rise again and fans were treated to their backstory from centuries past, as a new group of teenagers (Whitney Peak, Belissa Escobedo, Lila Buckingham) were tasked with defeating them.
—Tommy McArdle, PEOPLE, 6 May 2026
ABC News, 18 May 2026
Darby Allin defended his AEW World Championship twice in one week, defeating Konosuke Takeshita and Sammy Guevara.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 18 May 2026
And how about Orange Lutheran defeating Chino Hills 17-14.
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2026
Smalley, Matti Schmid and Nick Taylor are here mainly because of hot putting, while Rahm and Åberg are really the only two at the top who are defeating the course.
—Brendan Quinn, New York Times, 17 May 2026
With the San Antonio Spurs defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves, 4-2, in their Western Conference playoff series, the Western Conference Finals are now set.
—Adam Zagoria, Forbes.com, 16 May 2026
Kansas’ softball team celebrated its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 11 years by defeating Michigan 1-0 on Friday.
—Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 16 May 2026
In the process of winning 14 straight division championships from 1991-2005, Cox appeared in four other World Series, losing to Gillick’s Blue Jays in 1992 and the Yankees in 1996 and ’99 but defeating the Indians in 1995.
—Bill Madden, New York Daily News, 9 May 2026
In the sequel, the Sanderson sisters rise again and fans were treated to their backstory from centuries past, as a new group of teenagers (Whitney Peak, Belissa Escobedo, Lila Buckingham) were tasked with defeating them.
—Tommy McArdle, PEOPLE, 6 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defeating
Verb
-
The Louisiana native told me that overcoming his native cuisine was half the battle in that redshirt year.—
John Hollinger,
New York Times,
15 May 2026
-
The biggest obstacle was overcoming low expectations.—
Zoya Hasan,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2026
Verb
-
Owners who insist on doing it their way without mastering the existing system will often struggle.—
Seth Lederman,
Forbes.com,
20 May 2026
-
These creators made that knowledge far more accessible, producing educational content on everything from building a washday routine and transitioning from relaxers to mastering styles like twist-outs.—
Annie Blay-Tettey,
Allure,
14 May 2026
Verb
-
Denise attacked Djena again, beating her until Mohamed and their eldest son, Ahmed, pulled her off.—
Yudhijit Bhattacharjee,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
-
After the shooting, federal authorities accused Sosa-Celis and Aljorna of beating an ICE officer with a broomstick or a snow shovel during the incident, but those charges were later dropped after an investigation into whether the agents lied about the incident.—
Rena Rowe,
The Washington Examiner,
18 May 2026
Verb
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For a successful but not world-conquering rapper like Rashad, making a living relies on making sure that fans continue to feel connected to him.—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
15 May 2026
-
Built by Blueprint Construction with structural engineering by Design Point, the East River Residence demonstrates that conquering challenging terrain sometimes means floating above it.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The sponsors of House Bill 1430 boldly admit that our transportation taxes have been hijacked to pay for education and health care, and that taking those funds out of the legislature’s cookie jar will create shortfalls.—
DP Opinion,
Denver Post,
19 May 2026
-
Around 25 million lightning strikes occur in the United States every year, with most taking place during the summer months.—
KANSAS CITY STAR WEATHER BOT,
Kansas City Star,
19 May 2026
Verb
-
This housing push doesn’t have to do with the construction of new housing as much as getting tenants in the door, which might seem like an odd issue to have in a city with as acute of a housing demand as New York.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
15 May 2026
-
Short but sweet Jacksonville took advantage of perhaps the most famous offseason haircut with quarterback Trevor Lawrence getting his long locks cut short on camera after introducing the Jaguars’ schedule that then plays out on the screen edited down to less than 2 minutes.—
Teresa M. Walker,
Chicago Tribune,
15 May 2026
Verb
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The conglomerate finalized its acquisition of Dragontails in September 2021, touting the platform’s ability to optimize kitchen flow and driver dispatching by assisting workers with the timing and sequencing of orders, as well as planning optimal delivery routes.—
Sasha Rogelberg,
Fortune,
19 May 2026
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But the Knights were big dogs back then, and should have had an easy time dispatching the upstart Canadiens.—
Sean McIndoe,
New York Times,
11 May 2026
Verb
-
Those unable to swim two lengths of the pool without stopping should have a parent remain close enough to reach them.—
Laura Berrios,
AJC.com,
19 May 2026
-
The storm never fully fired, and Lisius and George eventually made their way back to Arlington, stopping for tacos along the way.—
Emily Holshouser
May 19,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
19 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Defeating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defeating. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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