different between defeat vs mischief

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??fi?t/
• Rhymes: -i?t

Etymology 1

From Middle English defeten, from Middle English defet (“disfigured”, past participle) and defet (“defect”, noun), see Etymology 2 below.

Verb

defeat (third-person singular simple present defeats, present participle defeating, simple past and past participle defeated)

1. (transitive) To overcome in battle or contest.

   Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.

2. (transitive) To reduce, to nothing, the strength of.
   • 1663, John Tillotson, The Wisdom of being Religious

     He finds himself naturally to dread a superior Being that can defeat all his designs, and disappoint all his hopes.

   • 1879, Adolphus Ward, Chaucer, in English Men of Letters

     In one instance he defeated his own purpose.

3. (transitive) To nullify
   • 1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England

     The escheators […] defeated the right heir of his succession.

Derived terms

• self-defeating

Synonyms

• vanquish, overcome, beat

Hyponyms

• conquer (defeat and annex); rout, crush, cream (decisive); shutout, zilch (sports, to defeat without permitting any opposing score)

Related terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English defet, from French deffet, desfait, past participle of the verb desfaire (compare modern French défaire), from des- + faire.

Noun

defeat (countable and uncountable, plural defeats)

1. The act or instance of being defeated, of being overcome or vanquished; a loss.

   Licking their wounds after a temporary defeat, they planned their next move.
2. The act or instance of defeating, of overcoming, vanquishing.

   The inscription records her defeat of the country's enemies in a costly war.

3. Frustration (by prevention of success), stymieing; (law) nullification.
   • 1909, The Southern Reporter, page 250:

     ... is subsequently issued to him, in accordance with his perfect equity thus acquired, by a legal fiction which the law creates for the protection, but not for the defeat, of his title.

   • 2008, Gene Porter, A Daughter of the Land, volume 1 (?ISBN), page 17:

     She could see no justice in being forced into a position that promised to end in further humiliation and defeat of her hopes.

4. (obsolete) Destruction, ruin.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, act 4, scene 1:

     and made defeat of her virginity

Antonyms

• victory

Translations

Anagrams

• feated

English

Etymology

From Middle English myschef, meschef, meschief, mischef, from Old French meschief, from meschever (“to bring to grief”), from mes- (“badly”) + chever (“happen; come to a head”), from Vulgar Latin *capare, from Latin caput (“head”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?st??f/, /?m??t??f/
• Rhymes: -?st??f

Noun

mischief (countable and uncountable, plural mischiefs)

1. (uncountable) Conduct that playfully causes petty annoyance.

   Synonyms: delinquency, naughtiness, roguery, scampishness; see also Thesaurus:villainy, Thesaurus:mischief

2. (countable) A playfully annoying action.

3. (collective) A group or a pack of rats.
   • 2014, G. W. Rennie, The Rat Chronicles, iUniverse ?ISBN, page 21

     Kirac, the leader of the rats under his charge, speaks to the major through his telepathic abilities that manifested after the alien virus infected him and his mischief of rats.

   • 2015, Rachel Smith, John Davidson, Rats For Kids, Mendon Cottage Books ?ISBN, page 6

     A group of rats is not a herd or a gaggle, but a pack or a mischief of rats. Rats in general are omnivorous, meaning they will eat almost anything.

4. (archaic) Harm or injury:
   1. (uncountable) Harm or trouble caused by an agent or brought about by a particular cause.
      • 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, Volume I, Chapter 8:

        Vanity working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief.
   2. (countable) An injury or an instance of harm or trouble caused by a person or other agent or cause.

5. (law) A criminal offence defined in various ways in various jurisdictions, sometimes including causing damage to another's property.
6. (archaic, countable) A cause or agent of annoyance, harm or injury, especially a person who causes mischief.

   Synonyms: bad boy, knave, rapscallion, rascal, rogue; see also Thesaurus:villain, Thesaurus:troublemaker
7. (euphemistic) The Devil; used as an expletive.
   • 1967, The Statesman (volume 12, page 260)

     What the mischief are you? and how the mischief did you get here, and where in thunder did you come from?

8. (Australia) Casual and/or flirtatious sexual acts.

Synonyms

• (harm or injury): agitation, annoyance, corruption, damage, demolition, destruction, detriment, disablement, disruption, evil, harm, hurt, ill, impairment, incapacitation, injury, nuisance, pique, ravage, sabotage, scathe, trouble, undoing, unmaking, vexation, weakening, wrong

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• mischief at OneLook Dictionary Search
• Mischief in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Middle English

Noun

mischief

1. Alternative form of myschef