defeat the enemy

Meaning

This phrase means to win a victory over an opponent, adversary, or rival in a conflict, game, or struggle. While it has historical and military origins, it is frequently used metaphorically in daily life to describe overcoming personal struggles, diseases, or competing teams.

Examples

• The army devised a brilliant strategy to defeat the enemy.

  The army devised a brilliant strategy to defeat the enemy.

• In the video game, you must complete several quests before you can defeat the enemy.

  In the video game, you must complete several quests before you can defeat the enemy.

• Our team needs a solid defense if we want to defeat the enemy in tomorrow's match.

  Our team needs a solid defense if we want to defeat the enemy in tomorrow's match.

• She felt like she had finally defeated the enemy after overcoming her long-term illness.

  She felt like she had finally defeated the enemy after overcoming her long-term illness.

• To defeat the enemy, we must first understand their weaknesses.

  To defeat the enemy, we must first understand their weaknesses.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ They won the enemy in the final battle.

  ✓ They defeated the enemy in the final battle.

  You 'win' a game, a battle, or a prize, but you 'defeat' or 'beat' an opponent or enemy.

• ✗ We managed to defeat against the enemy.

  ✓ We managed to defeat the enemy.

  'Defeat' is a transitive verb and takes a direct object without the preposition 'against'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• The players trained hard all week, determined to ___.

  💡 Win against their rivals or opponents.

  Show answer

  defeat the enemy

• In historical movies, the hero always finds a way to ___.

  💡 Overcome and beat the antagonist.

  Show answer

  defeat the enemy