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
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defect (from)
Verb
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Produced by Yann Zenou (YZE) and Nicolas Duval Adassovsky (ADNP/QUAD), the film stars Poelvoorde as Jean Chevalin, a bumbling trickster who accidentally deserts the army in 1940s France and must protect his family from the advancing Nazi threat.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
5 Nov. 2025 -
Cuomo and his panicky allies need the pollsters to be wrong again; maybe with a surge of older voters, maybe if Republican Curtis Sliwa’s supporters desert him.—
David Weigel,
semafor.com,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
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In 2022, Fox Weather had reported that United Airlines would abandon its request for passengers to open window shades upon landing after quietly beginning to encourage it in 2020.—
Staff Author,
PEOPLE,
31 Oct. 2025
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Weekly Newsletter Hamida’s first such meeting is with a twelve-year-old Hindu girl named Kammo, whose father abandoned her after the death of her mother.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The 2023 edition opened a month later as Israel intensified its bombing campaign on Gaza, which has since killed more than 67,000 people, injured another 170,000 and razed the Palestinian territory to the ground, prompting accusations of genocide, which Israel has strongly rejected.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
30 Oct. 2025
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Wyden’s aide rejected outright the concept that the Finance Committee lacks proper jurisdiction.—
Kevin Fixler,
Idaho Statesman,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Trump has repeatedly threatened to cut off federal funding to New York City — and even take control of it — if Mamdani won.—
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
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When the government cut off SNAP payments to poor families, a small restaurant-owner in Owensboro stepped in to give people free food.—
Ray Padilla,
Louisville Courier Journal,
4 Nov. 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 6 Nov. 2025.
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