defeat 
I have never yet been overt firoim, 
And tliou hast overthrown me, and my pride 
Is broken down, for Enid sees my fall. 
Tennytm, Geraint. 
defeat (de-fef), . [< defeat, v. Cf. F. 04- 
t'aitr, Of. defaitte, drfaite, defaicte, deffaite, des- 
'/'tiictc, f., defeat, ruin, deprivation, defait, de- 
faict, dcsfait, m., evil, misfortune, < L. defec- 
tus, failure, want, defect, ML. also defeat, ruin, 
< L. deficere, pp. defectus, fail : see defect, ., 
and defeat, v. Defeat, n., is thus ult. nearly 
the same as defect; but in E. it depends direct- 
ly upon the verb.] If. An undoing; ruin; de- 
struction. 
And made defeat of her virginity. 
Shalt., Much Ado, iv. 1. 
2. In law, the act of annulling, or of render- 
ing null and void ; annulment : as, the defeat 
of a title. 3. The act of depriving a person 
of something expected, desired, or striven for, 
by some antagonistic action or influence. 
So may a thousand actions, once afoot, 
End in one purpose, and be all well borne 
Without defeat. Shak., Hen. V., i. 2. 
4. The act or result of overcoming in a con- 
test, viewed with reference to the person over- 
come; overthrow; vanquishment ; rout: as, to 
inflict a severe defeat upon the enemy. 
Losing he wins, because his name will be 
Ennobled by defeat, who durst contend with me. 
Drydcn, Ajax and Ulysses, 1. 28. 
A defeat like that of Culloden. Bancroft. 
defeaturet (de-fe'tur), . [< OF. deffaitm-e, def- 
fature, deffai'cture, ruin, destruction, disguise, 
< defaite, desfaite, defeat, ruin, destruction: see 
defeat and -tire, and cf. feature, to which de- 
feature, n., 2, and defeature, v., are now re- 
ferred.] 1. Overthrow; defeat. 
The inequality of our powers will yield me 
Nothing but loss in their defeature. 
Beau, and PL, Thierry and Theodoret, i. 2. 
The king of Parthia, 
Famous in his defeature, of the Crassi, 
Offer'd him his protection. 
Fletcher (and another), False One, i. 1. 
2. Disfigurement ; disguise. 
Careful hours, with Time's deformed hand, 
Have written strange defeatures in my face. 
Shak., C. of E., v. 1. 
defeature (de-fe'tur), v. t.; pret. and pp. de- 
featured, ppr. defeaturing. [< OF. deffaiturer, 
deffacturer, desfaiturer, disfigure, disguise, < 
deffaiture, disfigurement, disguise : see defea- 
ture, .] To disfigure; deform; distort; dis- 
guise. 
Events defeatured by exaggeration. 
Fennell, Proceedings at Paris. 
Features, when defeatured in the way I have described. 
De Quincey. 
defecate (def'e-kat), >.; pret. and pp. defecated, 
ppr. defecatiny, [< L. defiecatw, pp. of def<e- 
care (> F. defequer = Sp. Pg. defecar = It. de- 
ficare), cleanse from dregs, purify, refine, < de, 
away, + feex (feec-), dregs, lees, sediment : see 
forces, fecal."] I. trans. 1. To purify; clarify; 
clear from dregs or impurities ; refine. 
To defecate the dark and muddy oil of amber. 
Boyle, Hist. Firmness. 
2. To purify from admixture ; clear ; purge of 
extraneous matter. 
All perfections of the Creatures are in the Creator more 
defecated and pei'fect. Pitrchas, Pilgrimage, p. 3. 
It is the advantage of this select company of ancients 
[Classics! that their works are defecated of all turbid mix- 
ture of contemporaneousness, and have become to us pure 
literature. Lowell, Among my Books, 1st ser., p. 177. 
II. intrans. 1. To become clear or freed from 
impurities; clarify. 
It [the air] soon began to defecate, and to depose these 
particles. Goldsmith. 
2. To void excrement. 
defecate (def'e-kat), a. 
see the verb.] 
defecated. 
Prayer elevated and made intense by a defecate and pure 
spirit, not laden with the burden of meat and vapours 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), I. 235. 
This liquor was very defecate, and of a pleasing golden 
colour. Boule, Spring of the Air. 
defecation (def-e-ka'shon), . [=F. defecation 
= Sp. defecation = T?g."defeeac,ao = It. defeca- 
zionc, < LL. defalcation-), '<, defwcare, defecate: 
see defecate."] 1. The act or process of separat- 
ing from lees or dregs ; a cleansing from impuri- 
ties or foreign matter; clarification. 
The spleen and liver are obstructed in their offices of 
defecation, whence vicious and dreggisb blood. 
Harvey, Consumptions. 
, . [< L. defaicatm, pp. : 
Purged from dregs; clarified; 
1500 
2. The act of discharging the faeces; the act 
of evacuating the bowels. 3. Figuratively, 
purification from what is gross or low. 
He was afterwards an hungry (said the Evangelist), and 
bis abstinence from meat might be a defecation of his 
faculties, and an opportunity of prayer. 
Jer. Taylor, Great Exemplar, i. 9. 
defecator (def'e-ka-tor), n. One who or that 
which cleanses/clarifies, or purifies; specifical- 
ly, in sugar-manuf., an apparatus for purifying 
the raw syrup. Steam-heated pans or filters, or appara- 
tus in which a spray of the liquid is exposed to the fumes 
of sulphurous-acid gas, are employed for this purpose. 
defect (de-fekf), . [< ME. defaicte (< OF. de- 
fait, defdict, deffait: see defeat, n.), also defect, 
dcffect= Sp. defecto = Pg. defeito = It. defetto, di- 
fetto = D. G. Dan. Sw. defect, < L. defectus, a 
failure, lack, < deficere, pp. defectus, fail, lack, 
orig. trans., undo (cf. OF. defaire, undo, defeat: 
see defeat), < de- priv. + facere, do. Hence 
(from L. deficere) deficit, deficient, etc.] Want 
or lack of anything; especially, the lack of 
something which is essential to perfection or 
completeness; a fault; a blemish; an imper- 
fection : as, a defect in timber ; a defect in the 
organs of hearing or seeing ; a defect of memory 
or judgment. 
An hidde defaicte is sumtyme in nature 
Under covert, and thereof thus thowe lere. 
Palladia, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 3. 
A complete self-sufficient Country, where there is rather 
a Superfluity than Defect of any thing. 
Howell, Letters, I. i. 15. 
Trust not yourself; but, your defects to know, 
Make use of every friend and every foe. 
Pope, Essay on Criticism, 1. 213. 
Either sex alone 
Is half itself, and in true marriage lies 
Nor equal, nor unequal ; each fulfils 
Defect in each. Tennyson, Princess, vii. 
= Syn. Deficiency, lack, insufficiency, failure, error, flaw, 
defect (de-fekf), (>. [< L. defectus, pp. of defi- 
cere, fail: see defect, .] I. intrans. 1. To be 
or become deficient ; fail. [Rare.] 
I looke on this [the death of the Archbishop of York) as a 
greate stroke to y e poore Church of England, now in this 
defecting period. Evelyn, Diary, April 15, 1686. 
2. To desert; revolt. [Rare.] 
The native troops and gunners defected ; he was obliged 
to make a painful and disastrous retreat. 
W. H. Russell, Diary ill India, I. 280. 
Il.t trans. To affect injuriously; hurt; im- 
pair; spoil. 
None can my life defect. 
Troubles of Queen Elizabeth (1639). 
Defected honour never more 
Is to be got againe. 
Warner, Albion's England, v. 2S. 
defectt (de-fekf), a. [< L. defectus, pp. of defi- 
cere, fail: see deject, .] Defective. 
Their service was defect and lame. Taylor, 1630. 
defectibility (de-fek-ti-bil'i-ti), n. [= Pg. de- 
fectibilidade ; as defectibJe + -ity : see -bility.~\ 
Deficiency; imperfection. [Rare.] 
Point a moral witli the defectibility of certitude. 
J. H. Newman, Gram, of Assent, p. 338. 
defectible (de-fek'ti-bl), a. [= Sp. defective 
= Pg. defectivel, < ML. as if *defectibilis, < L. 
defectus, pp. of deficere, fail (see defect, v.), + E. 
-ible.~] Lacking; deficient; needy. [Rare.] 
The extraordinary persons thus highly favoured were 
for a great part of their lives in a defectible condition. 
Sir M. Hale, Orig. of Mankind. 
defection (de-fek'shon), n. [= F. defection = 
Sp. defection ' = Pg. defecqao = It. defezione, < L. 
defectio(n-), lack, failure, desertion, < deficere, 
pp. defectus, lack, fail: see defect."] 1. Alack; 
a failure; especially, failure in the perform- 
ance of duty or obligation. 2. The act of 
abandoning a person or a cause to which one is 
bound by allegiance or duty, or to which one 
has attached himself ; a falling away ; apostasy ; 
backsliding. 
I am ashamed at the rabbinical interpretation of the 
Jews upon the Old Testament, as much as their defection 
from the New. Sir T. Broume, Religio Medici, i. 25. 
All who have been true to Him in times of trial and de- 
fection will have their portion for ever in the Church tri- 
umphant. Bp. Chi: Wordsworth, Church of Ireland, p. 323. 
Boscan preferred to write in the Castilian ; and his de- 
fection from his native dialect became, in some sort, the 
seal of its fate. Tieknur, Span. Lit., I. 438. 
defectionist (de-fek'shon-ist), n. [< defection 
+ -ist.~] One who practises or advocates defec- 
tion. Imp. Diet. [Rare.] 
defectioust (de-fek'shus), o. [< defection + 
-ous."] Having defects ; defective; imperfect; 
faulty. 
Perchance in some one defections peece we may find a 
blemish. Sir P, Sidney, Apol. for Poetrie. 
defend 
defective (de-fek'tiv), a. and H. [< OF. dcfec- 
tif, deffectif,' F. defect if = Sp. Pg. defective = 
It. defettif.0, difettieo, < LL. defectives, imper- 
fect, < L. defectus, pp. of deficere, lack, fail: 
see defect. ] I. a. 1. Having defect or flaw 
of any kind; imperfect; incomplete; lacking; 
faulty. 
To be naturally defective in those faculties which are 
essential and necessary to that work which is under our 
hand, is a great discouragement. Donne, Sermons, V. 
Our tragedy writers have been notoriously defective in 
giving proper sentiments to the persons they introduce. 
Atldison. 
All human systems are necessarily defective. They par- 
take of the limits of the human mind. 
Channiiiy, Perfect Life, p. 6. 
The machinery by which ideas are to be conveyed from 
one person to another is as yet rude and defective. 
Macaulay, Dryilrn. 
Specifically 2. In gram., wanting some of the 
usual forms of declension or conjugation : as, 
a defective noun or verb Defective fifth, in i- 
tric, an interval containing a semitone less than the perfect 
fifth. Defective hyperbola. Same as ilejieitut hyper- 
Ma (which see, under deficient). Defective syllogism, 
in logic, a syllogism in the statement of which one of the 
premises of the conclusion is omitted. = Syn. 1. Deficient. 
Defective, incomplete, inadequate, insufficient. In the 
separation of the first two words, defective generally takes 
the sense of lacking some important or essential quality ; 
deficient, that of lacking in quantity : as, defective teeth, 
timber, character; deficient supplies, means, intellect. 
The same difference is found between deficiency and de- 
fectiveness. 
They who are defective in matter endeavour to make 
amends with words. 
Montaigne, Essays, tr. by Cotton, 3d ed., xxv. 
Deficient as was, in many respects, the education im- 
parted by Charles Albert to his children, they were brought 
up to be brave, honest, and truthful. 
E. Dicey, Victor Emmanuel, p. 52. 
II. n. A person who is characterized by some 
special mental, moral, or physical defect ; spe- 
cifically, one who is deficient in one or more of 
the physical senses or powers. 
She [Laura Kridgman] is not apt, like many defectives, 
to fall asleep if left alone or unemployed. 
O. S. Hall, German Culture, p. 267. 
The psychology of the criminal and other classes of de- 
fectives. Science, VI. 413. 
defectively (de-fek'tiv- li), adv. In a defective 
manner; imperfectly. 
"Fabius Maximus is reprehended by Polybius for defec- 
tively writing the Punicke warres. Speed, The Proeme. 
defectiveness (de-fek'tiv-nes), n. The state of 
being defective ;' imperfection ; faultiness. 
The unfltness and defectiveness of an unconjugal mind. 
Milton, Divorce, i. 
defectless (de-fekf les), a. [< defect + -less.'] 
Without def e'ct ; perfect. 
An absolutely defectless memory. 
S. L. Clemens, Life on the Mississippi, p. 485. 
defectuosityt (de-fek-tu-os'i-ti), n. [= F. defec- 
tuosite (= Pr. defectuositat = It. difettuosita), < 
L. as if "defectuosita(t-)s, < "defectnosus, defec- 
tive : see defections.'] Defectiveness; faulti- 
ness. W. Montague. 
defectuoust (de-fek'tu-us), a. [= F. defectueiix 
= Pr. defectuos = Sp. Pg. defectuoso = It. difet- 
titoso,< L. as if *defectuosus, < defectus (defectu-), 
defect: see defect, .] Full of defects. 
Nothing in Nature, or in Providence, that is scant or 
defectuou*, ean be stable or lasting. Barrow, Works, II, xv. 
defedationt (def-e-da'shon), n. [< ML. defoe- 
datio(n-), < LL. def'cedare, defile, < de- + firdarr. 
foul, < fcedus, foul.] Pollution ; the act of mak- 
ing filthy. Betttley. 
defence, defenceless, etc. See defense, etc. 
defend (de-feud' ),v. [< ME. defeiiden, also dif- 
fenden, < OF. defendre, desfendre, F. defendre, 
defend, forbid, interdict, = Sp. Pg. defender = 
It. defendere, difendere, < L. defendere, ward off, 
repel, avert, defend, < de, down, away, + *fen- 
dere, strike, only in comp. defendere and offen- 
dere ; cf. Or. fitivtiv, strike. Cf. fend, apheretic 
form of defend and offend."] I. trtinx. 1. To 
drive off or away ; thrust back ; fend or ward 
off; repel. [Now only Scotch.] 
To sane man sanies he sail be send 
And all fills trowth he sail defende. 
Holy Hood (ed. Morris), p. 67. 
And all the margent round about was sett 
With shady Laurell trees, thence to defend 
The sunny beanies. Spenser, F. Q., II. xii. 63. 
2. To forbid; prohibit; forefcnd. [Now rare.] 
Oure Lord defended hem, that tbei scbolde not telle 
that Avisioun, t'l that he were rysen from Dethe to Lyf. 
Maniti'1-illf, Travels, p. 114. 
The use uf wine in some places is 
or laws. 
mh'i/ b\ riistinus 
Sir W . Temple. 
