I.
noun
ADJECTIVE
▪ complete , comprehensive ( esp. BrE ), decisive , heavy , major , overwhelming , resounding , serious , stunning , total
▪
Their party suffered a heavy ~ in the election.
▪ bitter , catastrophic , crushing , devastating , disastrous , embarrassing , humiliating , ignominious ( formal )
▪
The battle ended in a humiliating ~.
▪ narrow
▪
They lost 4–3 in their second narrow ~ of the week.
▪ consecutive , successive
▪ final , ultimate
▪ election , electoral , political
▪ military
VERB + DEFEAT
▪ accept , admit , concede
▪
She is very determined, and will never admit ~.
▪
The prime minister conceded ~ and resigned.
▪ face
▪ experience , suffer
▪ go down to , slump to (both BrE , sports )
▪
The team went down to their fifth consecutive ~.
▪ reverse ( BrE )
▪
A good politician can always reverse any ~s.
▪ avoid
▪
We just need to avoid ~ in our last two games.
▪ inflict
▪
The army inflicted a heavy ~ on rebel forces.
▪ end in
▪ lead to
PREPOSITION
▪ ~ against
▪
last week's crushing ~ against their rivals
▪ ~ by
▪
their ~ by the Brazilians
PHRASES
▪ ~ at the hands of sb
▪
The team suffered ~ at the hands of their oldest rivals.
▪ turn ~ into a victory
▪
They turned a military ~ into a media victory.
II.
verb
ADVERB
▪ comprehensively ( BrE ), convincingly ( esp. BrE ), decisively , easily , handily ( AmE ), heavily ( BrE ), overwhelmingly , roundly , soundly , thoroughly
▪
The English were decisively ~ed by the rebels in the battle that followed.
▪
The senator was decisively ~ed by his rivals.
▪ completely , totally
▪ militarily
▪
He said it was impossible to ~ the terrorists militarily.
▪ narrowly
▪
Our team was narrowly ~ed in the final.
▪ eventually , finally , ultimately
PREPOSITION
▪ by
▪
The motion was ~ed by 20 votes to 18.
Defeat is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑ army
Defeat is used with these nouns as the object: ↑ amendment , ↑ army , ↑ bill , ↑ challenger , ↑ champion , ↑ communism , ↑ enemy , ↑ evil , ↑ fleet , ↑ foe , ↑ initiative , ↑ measure , ↑ menace , ↑ military , ↑ monster , ↑ motion , ↑ opponent , ↑ purpose , ↑ rebel , ↑ regime , ↑ rival , ↑ terror , ↑ terrorism , ↑ tyranny