as in to desert
to leave (a cause or party) often in order to take up another
soldiers defected from the rebel army en masse as the failure of their cause became apparent
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defect (from)
Verb
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The second and third matches are due to be played on Friday and Sunday, but the luck of the Irish may desert them with those grey skies in Dublin.—
Tim Ellis,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025 -
In Cameroon, so many skilled officers have deserted from the military to fight for Russia in Ukraine for up to $3,000 a month, that in March, the Cameroonian government instituted a ban on uniformed men from leaving the country.—
Alia Brahimi,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Travis Decker, the man believed to have suffocated and abandoned his three young daughters at a campsite in the Washington state wilderness, is dead, Chelan County authorities said Thursday.—
Cindy Von Quednow,
CNN Money,
25 Sep. 2025
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The Gulf states are hedging against Israeli overreach—not abandoning America.—
Firas Maksad,
Time,
25 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Prosecutors also sought another charge of making false statements, court documents released Thursday show, but the grand jury rejected it.—
Chad de Guzman,
Time,
26 Sep. 2025
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ByteDance and TikTok had challenged the law on First Amendment grounds but the Supreme Court rejected its appeal.—
Todd Spangler,
Variety,
25 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Notice an uptick in aggressive driving behaviors like red-light running, speeding, tailgating, honking and cutting off other vehicles while on the road?—
Natalie Davies,
Freep.com,
23 Sep. 2025
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Ragasa, known in the Philippines as Nando, made landfall as a super typhoon over Panuitan Island, in the northern Cagayan province, on Monday, damaging homes, cutting off roads, and triggering landslides.—
Helen Regan,
CNN Money,
23 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Defect (from).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defect%20%28from%29. Accessed 28 Sep. 2025.
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