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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His paintings capture the rhythms of daily life—women draped in flowing tobes set against stark, open backdrops of the sky or desert in some, bustling market stalls in others.—
Omnia Saed,
ARTnews.com,
17 Mar. 2025 -
Except for an elderly gentleman walking his dog some distance away, both taking mincing steps, the beach and the boardwalk are deserted.—
Joyce Carol Oates,
The New Yorker,
16 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Iran later abandoned provisions of the JCPOA and forged ahead with its nuclear program.—
Ron Estes,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Mar. 2025
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The administration’s decision to abandon plans to move D.C.’s elite fighter jet squadron to Maryland comes months after the state’s congressional delegation and Gov. Wes Moore (D) worked to secure the planes to prevent the state from losing its flying mission.—
Meagan Flynn,
Baltimore Sun,
29 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The company must take the job listing down and reject all the candidates that applied.—
Kate Wieczorek,
Forbes.com,
1 Apr. 2025
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Two lower courts had already rejected the legal challenge by Democrat Josh Kaul, who argues that Musk’s offer violates a state law.—
Scott Bauer,
Chicago Tribune,
31 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Bricker was born without legs due to a uterine band cutting off the blood supply to her lower limbs in utero.—
Colson Thayer,
People.com,
29 Mar. 2025
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Most recently, Ukrainian air force Sukhoi Su-27 fighters have been hurling the bombs at bridges in Belgorod Oblast in western Russia, aiming to cut off Russian troops in the oblast’s border region, where Ukrainian brigades have launched small-scale incursions.—
David Axe,
Forbes.com,
29 Mar. 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 3 Apr. 2025.
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