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To undo; to disfigure; to destroy. [Obs.] His unkindness may defeat my life. Shak.

Overthrow; defeat. [Obs.] "Nothing but loss in their defeature." Beau. & Fl.

Changed in features; deformed. [R.] Features when defeatured in the . . . way I have described. De Quincey.

To be defeated, or come to naught; to fall through; to fail; as, a writ abates. To abate into a freehold, To abate in lands (Law), to enter into a freehold after the death of the last possessor, and before the heir takes possession. See Abatement, 4.

Overthrowing; defeating; -- applied to Plato's refutative dialogues. Enfield.

To ordain; to determine; to arrange. For the Lord had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithoph2 Sam. xvii. 14.

ivately. Then lords and ladies spake aside. Sir W. Scott. To set aside (Law), to annul or defeat the effect or operation of, by a subsequent decision of the same or of a superior tribunal; to declare of no authority; as, to set aside a verdict or a judgment.

cient to accomplish the object; as, the plea in bar must avail, that is, be sufficient to defeat the suit; this scheme will not avail; medicines will not avail to check the disease. "What signs avail " Milton. Words avail very little with me, young man. Sir W. Scott.

To defeat or evade; to invalidate. Thus, in a replication, the plaintiff may deny the defendant's plea, or confess it, and avoid it by stating new matter. Blackstone.

To check by perplexing; to disconcert, frustrate, or defeat; to thwart. "A baffled purpose." De Quincey. A suitable scripture ready to repel and baffle them all. South. Calculations so difficult as to have baffled, until within a . . . recent period, the most enlightened nations. Prescott. The mere intricacy of a quest…

plea which is a final defense in an action. -- Plea in bar, a plea which goes to bar or defeat the plaintiff's action absolutely and entirely. -- Trial at bar (Eng. Law), a trial before all the judges of one the superior courts of Westminster, or before a quorum representing the full court.

ains of; to kill by beating out the brains. Hence, Fig.: To destroy; to put an end to; to defeat. There thou mayst brain him. Shak. It was the swift celerity of the death . . . That brained my purpose. Shak.

To defeat in a lawsuit; to decide against; to convict; as, to be cast in damages. She was cast to be hanged. Jeffrey. Were the case referred to any competent judge, they would inevitably be cast. Dr. H. More.

One who by defeating all rivals, has obtained an acknowledged supremacy in any branch of athetics or game of skill, and is ready to contend with any rival; as, the champion of England.

A complete check; utter defeat or overthrow.

A clause in a contract, or agreement, which has for its object to suspend, to defeat, or in some way to modify, the principal obligation; or, in case of a will, to suspend, revoke, or modify a devise or bequest. It is also the case of a future uncertain event, which may or may not happen, and on the occurrence or non-o…

Overthrow; defeat; ruin.

conquers. The Conqueror (Eng. Hist.). William the Norman (1027-1067) who invaded England, defeated Harold in the battle of Hastings, and was crowned king, in 1066.

n; to come into conflict with; to oppose; to contradict; to obstruct the operation of; to defeat. So plain a proposition . . . was not likely to be contravened. Southey.

To defeat; to doom to destruction. [Obs.] A whole armado of convicted sail. Shak.