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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Some European countries, deserted by the United States and lacking a formidable European-only defense alliance, may be cowed into cutting deals with Moscow.—
Liana Fix,
Foreign Affairs,
1 May 2025 -
When this reporter stopped by on a Tuesday afternoon at 5 p.m. several months ago, the bar/restaurant was deserted.—
Gary Stern,
Forbes.com,
24 Apr. 2025
Verb
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When Lollapalooza first announced that Olivia and Sabrina Carpenter were headlining this summer (along with Tyler, the Creator and Rüfüs Du Soul), with Abrams also in a top slot, there was the predictable gnashing of teeth that Lollapalooza is abandoning its precious rock heritage.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
17 May 2025
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President mulls joining Russia-Ukraine peace talks, expects ceasefire With Russian forces now in control of close to a fifth of Ukraine, Putin has held fast to his longstanding demands for Kyiv to cede territory, abandon its NATO membership ambitions and become a neutral country.—
USA Today,
USA Today,
17 May 2025
Verb
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Shirley has discovered that Conrad was rejected for a job at UNIT eight years ago.—
Jennifer Zhan,
Vulture,
3 May 2025
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The judge has now said that’s not good enough, and rejected Bungie’s motion to dismiss.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
3 May 2025
Verb
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During the Sunday Morning interview, which was focused on Belichick's new memoir, Hudson was seen cutting off questions from journalist Tony Dokoupil about their relationship.—
Julie Mazziotta,
People.com,
16 May 2025
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Some sort of flight test took place two years ago, but the video cuts off after a minute, suggesting that the end of the flight was less than nominal.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
16 May 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 20 May. 2025.
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