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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Banks call credit union bill ‘bad policy’ The North Carolina Bankers Association trade group opposes the bill and scoffs at the idea that banks have deserted communities.—
Catherine Muccigrosso,
Charlotte Observer,
17 Apr. 2025 -
Leadership In The Clean Energy Transition Business leaders can accelerate the transformation of energy deserts to energy hubs by prioritizing investments in alternative energy infrastructure through strategic partnerships with emerging clean energy innovators.—
Whitaker Irvin Jr.,
Forbes.com,
15 Apr. 2025
Verb
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At this point, what started as a throwaway joke has grown into something vaguely earnest — too big to fail and too enmeshed in the neighborhood to be abandoned in good conscience.—
Nate Rogers,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2025
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Biden’s Justice Department ultimately abandoned the gambit and left Trump to head to trial, where a jury ordered him to pay $83.3 million.—
Zach Schonfeld,
The Hill,
23 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Hours before the scheduled execution on Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a final appeal by Mendoza's attorneys to stop the execution.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Apr. 2025
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Guo, the spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, rejected Trump’s assertions suggesting progress toward a trade deal.—
Max Zahn,
ABC News,
24 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Trump briefly cut off aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, but resumed after Zelenskyy agreed to an immediate ceasefire, a call Putin has rebuffed.—
Dave Goldiner,
New York Daily News,
23 Apr. 2025
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The Trump administration is cutting off the huge stream of data that's been feeding the nation's largest study of women's health, which has produced a series of landmark discoveries.—
Rob Stein,
NPR,
23 Apr. 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 30 Apr. 2025.
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