defeat-v; 4 Senses

Sense Number 1: conquer or win a victory over an adversary

Commentary:
NOTE: Also used metaphorically.

Examples:
Most of the stories in business section are about those that defeated their competition.
After Morgoth was defeated in the War of Wrath, Sauron hid for many centuries.
He served until defeated in the election of 1995.
He was defeated in the election of 1995.
She defeated him in the election of 1995.
Defeat your fears and live a happier life.
I continue this routine rigorously until I have successfully defeated the sickness.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NP
FrameNet: Finish_competition
PropBank: defeat.01
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 1

Sense Number 2: baffle, fall short of understanding or ability

Examples:
His logic defeats me.
The mindset of those who did it defeats me.
I'm afraid anything that involves language learning has always defeated me.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NP
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: NM

Sense Number 3: make something void

Examples:
The House defeated the motion by a nearly party-line vote of 190 to 235.
In May of 2002, the district vote defeated the proposed budget.
That proposed law was defeated.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NP
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: NM
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 2

Sense Number 4: prevent success, cause something to fail

Examples:
The truck defeated all my attempts to get it to start.
Internal strife defeats the purpose of teamwork.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NP
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: NM