INDEX:
1. to beat someone in a game, competition, election etc
2. to beat someone very easily in a game, competition, election etc
3. to defeat an enemy in war
4. to beat someone by using your intelligence
5. when someone is beaten
RELATED WORDS
to win a game or competition : ↑ WIN
to hit someone or something : ↑ HIT
see also
↑ COMPETE WITH
↑ FIGHT
↑ WAR
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1. to beat someone in a game, competition, election etc
▷ beat /biːt/ [transitive verb]
to get more points, votes etc than an opposing team or political party :
▪ Do you think the Socialists will beat the Liberals in the election?
▪ Brazil beat Italy in the final.
▪ Lewis was a tough boxer, and a hard man to beat.
beat somebody at something
▪ My Father used to let me beat him at chess.
beat somebody by 20 points/5 seconds/50 votes etc
▪ The Swedish runner beat the Canadian by just under two seconds.
beat somebody 3-1/84 to 61/etc
▪ The Red Sox beat the Yankees 6-3.
▷ defeat /dɪˈfiːt/ [transitive verb] especially written
to get more points, votes etc than an opposing team, person, or political party. Defeat is more formal than beat. :
▪ For the sixth consecutive year, Oxford defeated Cambridge today in the annual boat race.
▪ Polk of California was defeated by a Democratic challenger in the last election.
defeat somebody by 20 points/two goals to one etc
▪ Sanchez defeated Dornan by just 984 votes.
▷ get the better of /ˌget ðə ˈbetər ɒv/ [verb phrase] especially British, spoken
to defeat an opponent or team in a game - use this especially about opponents or teams of a similar ability :
▪ She’s determined not to let Smith, her fiercest rival, get the better of her.
▷ be more than a match for /biː ˌmɔːʳ ð ə n ə ˈmætʃ fəʳ/ [verb phrase]
to easily beat your opponent in a game, especially when people were not expecting you to :
▪ I thought I might beat Tracy at tennis but she was more than a match for me.
▪ The Russian president has once again proved more than a match for his political adversaries.
2. to beat someone very easily in a game, competition, election etc
▷ crush/slaughter/massacre/annihilate /krʌʃ, ˈslɔːtəʳ, ˈmæsəkəʳ, əˈnaɪəleɪt/ [transitive verb] informal
to completely beat someone in a game, competition, election etc :
▪ Wow, the Raiders just slaughtered the Seahawks again.
▪ The party strategy was to form an alliance to crush the communists.
▷ clobber/hammer /ˈklɒbəʳǁˈklɑː-, ˈhæməʳ/ [transitive verb] informal also cream /kriːm/ American spoken
to beat someone very easily in a game, competition, election etc :
▪ We’ve been clobbered twice now by Central High’s basketball team.
▪ Chicago hammered Boston in an away game on Saturday.
▪ ‘How’d the game go?’ ‘We creamed 'em!’
▷ rout /raʊt/ [transitive verb not in progressive] especially British
to beat an opposing team or political party easily and completely :
▪ The Australians have once again routed the English cricket team.
▷ wipe the floor with somebody /ˌwaɪp ðə ˈflɔːʳ wɪð somebody/ informal
to defeat someone completely in an argument or competition :
▪ I’d think twice before I started a fight with him - he’d wipe the floor with me!
▷ outplay /aʊtˈpleɪ/ [transitive verb not usually in progressive]
to play much better than an opponent or team in a game and beat them easily :
▪ Ohio outplayed Michigan, especially in the fourth quarter, winning by 14 points.
3. to defeat an enemy in war
▷ defeat /dɪˈfiːt/ [transitive verb]
to completely defeat an enemy’s army because your armed forces are much larger, have better equipment etc :
▪ The army was well-trained and well-armed, and had little difficulty defeating the rebels.
heavily defeat
▪ The Republicans were heavily defeated in the Spanish Civil War.
▷ overwhelm /ˌəʊvəʳˈwelm/ [transitive verb]
to completely defeat an enemy’s army because your armed forces are much larger, have better equipment etc :
▪ Napoleon’s army was strong enough to overwhelm nearly any potential enemy.
▪ With its greatly superior technology, the government forces completely overwhelmed the rebels.
▷ annihilate /əˈnaɪəleɪt/ [transitive verb]
to completely defeat an enemy’s army in a war and to destroy all their armed forces :
▪ After a long and bloody battle the army succeeded in annihilating Seged’s forces.
▪ In 1945 Japan was helpless, with its military power annihilated.
▷ rout /raʊt/ [transitive verb not in progressive]
to completely defeat an enemy’s army in battle :
▪ The general was killed and his armies were routed in a magnificent cavalry charge.
▷ bring somebody to their knees /ˌbrɪŋ somebody tə ðeəʳ ˈniːz/ [verb phrase]
to cause the final defeat of an enemy, especially after a long war, so that they are too weak to fight back :
▪ The disastrous Battle of the Boyne finally brought the Catholics to their knees.
▪ After years of trench warfare, the Kaiser’s army had finally been brought to its knees.
▷ conquer /ˈkɒŋkəʳǁˈkɑːŋ-/ [intransitive/transitive verb]
to completely defeat the armed forces of an enemy country, with the result that you have complete control over it :
▪ Sailors travelled to the New World with the urge to conquer and explore.
▪ Julius Caesar conquered Gaul, which we know today as France.
4. to beat someone by using your intelligence
▷ outwit/outsmart /aʊtˈwɪt, aʊtˈsmɑːʳt/ [transitive verb]
to get an advantage over someone that you are fighting or competing against, by using clever tricks and planning rather than by force :
▪ We can’t fight them. We’ll just have to try and outsmart them.
▪ None of the thieves wanted to admit that they had been outwitted by a couple of teenagers.
▷ be too clever for /biː tuː ˈkleveʳ fɔːʳ/ [verb phrase] also be too smart for /biː tuː ˈsmɑːʳt fɔːʳ/ especially American
if you are too clever or too smart for someone, they have tried to trick you but you realized what they were doing and stopped them succeeding :
▪ Molly tried to hide the presents but the children were too clever for her and found them within minutes.
5. when someone is beaten
▷ defeat /dɪˈfiːt/ [countable/uncountable noun]
a situation in which a person, army, political party etc is defeated :
▪ After his third successive election defeat he decided to retire from politics.
suffer a defeat
▪ In the last game of the season they suffered a humiliating defeat, losing 7-0 to Real Madrid.
▷ rout /raʊt/ [countable noun]
a situation in which a person, army, political party etc is easily defeated :
▪ The game was a rout, with the home team winning by 10 goals to nil.
▷ drubbing /ˈdrʌbɪŋ/ [countable noun]
a situation in which a person, team, political party etc is defeated badly :
▪ Gramm’s drubbing by Davis in the California primary has badly hurt his campaign.
take a drubbing
▪ The Lions took a drubbing from the Eagles last night, losing 58-37.