as in to desert
to leave (a cause or party) often in order to take up another
soldiers defected from the rebel army en masse as the failure of their cause became apparent
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defect (from)
Verb
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It was built during World War II to watch for enemy ships before being deserted in 1949, according to Atlas Obscura.—
Helena Wegner,
Sacbee.com,
7 Apr. 2025 -
The bees are dying as the workers desert the queen.—
Matt Donnelly,
Variety,
3 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Heading them is none other than Robert Keller, who wasn’t killed after all, and now blames his big bro for abandoning him.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
11 Apr. 2025
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The Indonesian government was floating a moratorium to stop the construction of new hotels, villas and nightclubs in Bali, in an effort to curb over tourism—an idea that was abandoned at the start of the year.—
Michelle Tchea,
Robb Report,
10 Apr. 2025
Verb
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There are plenty of glaring examples, such as Steve Jobs and Google being rejected by some of the world’s most renowned VCs (https://www.bvp.com/anti-portfolio).—
Dileep Rao,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
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Superior Court Judge Craig Collins from neighboring Gaston county also rejected it after Tench’s friends and family — his mother, sister and aunts — submitted and read aloud letters underlining the effect Tench’s disappearance and apparent death have had.—
Julia Coin,
Charlotte Observer,
9 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The witness told investigators that Griffin swerved to cut off Francis, court documents read, at which point Francis pulled up beside the of the green Sierra and allegedly fired four to five shots into the truck through the front window on the drivers’ side.—
Ilana Arougheti,
Kansas City Star,
10 Apr. 2025
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Italy has halted talks on a potential $1.5 billion deal for secure government communications amid outrage over threats to cut off Ukraine’s access to Starlink.—
Jeremy Bogaisky,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Defect (from).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defect%20%28from%29. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
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