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Common collocations with defeat in American Collocation

defeat noun countable/uncountable

US /dɪˈfit/

bad

bad
big
heavy
major

Their heaviest defeat came in 1995 when they lost to Croatia 4–0.

very bad

catastrophic
crushing
devastating
disastrous
dismal
massive

The British suffered one of their most disastrous defeats of the war.

total or clear

comprehensive
decisive
resounding
total

A decisive defeat of the enemy was only possible if the Vikings could be brought to battle.

embarrassing or disappointing

disappointing
embarrassing
humiliating
ignominious

The Social Democrats suffered an ignominious defeat in the regional election.

not bad

narrow

They were lucky to have escaped with such a narrow defeat.

happening one after the other

consecutive
straight
successive

The team were desperate to avoid a fourth straight defeat.

unexpected

shock
surprise
unexpected

They were knocked out of the competition after a shock defeat.

suffer a defeat

crash to
face
slip to
slump to
suffer
taste

The party had suffered four general election defeats.

admit defeat

accept
acknowledge
admit
concede

He had to admit defeat and accept that he had been wrong.

He had to admit defeat. They can choose to concede defeat or fight back.

avoid defeat

avoid

The first task was to avoid defeat in the opening game.

make someone suffer a defeat

inflict

They managed to inflict an embarrassing defeat on the Italians.

get revenge for a defeat

avenge

The world champion avenged her defeat in Melbourne by beating Kitchen 9–6, 4–9, 9–6.

be likely to suffer a defeat

face
stare in the face

After losing the first two sets, Nadal was staring defeat in the face.