Definition of defect (from)next
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
  • Another neighbor said the apartment was deserted when police arrived.
    Kerry Burke, New York Daily News, 12 Aug. 2026
  • One season on our family farm, deer deserted a tree stand that had produced results for years.
    David Farbman, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026
Verb
  • That’s not to say that Tehran is going to abandon its proxies – far from it.
    Tim Lister, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2026
  • And it's kind of abandoned, not very well maintained at the time.
    Sooji Nam, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Ogunyemi rejects the notion that encouragement is merely a soft leadership practice that can’t be connected to measurable business outcomes.
    Rodger Dean Duncan, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Lucas was convicted of fatally shooting a 16-year-old girl who rejected his romantic advances and wounding two of her friends.
    CBS News, CBS News, 18 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Bridges on the Big Island were washed away, and several communities have been entirely cut off from the rest of the island.
    Jonathan Vigliotti, CBS News, 18 Aug. 2026
  • The county’s Flock cameras soon went dark, cutting off Dane County data from the 140 other law enforcement agencies that had once accessed it.
    Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica, 17 Aug. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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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 Aug. 2026.

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