noun, verb ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Destruction, defeat, overthrow. archaic, countable, uncountable

   "that hoarie king, with all his traine, / Being arriued, where that champion stout / After his foes defeasance did remaine […]"

2. 2
   The rendering void of a contract or deed; an annulment or abrogation. US, countable, uncountable

Verb

1. 1
   To void; to annul. US, transitive

Synonyms

All synonyms

abolitionabrogationannulmentbeatingcancelcancellation

Example

More examples

"that hoarie king, with all his traine, / Being arriued, where that champion stout / After his foes defeasance did remaine […]"

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman defeasaunce.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.