defy

Word family

de·fy /dɪˈfaɪ/ verb (defied, defying, defies) [transitiveT]

1 DISOBEYto refuse to obey a law or rule, or refuse to do what someone in authority tells you to do 违抗〔法律或规则〕；拒不服从〔有权威者〕 → defiance

people who openly defy the law

公然抗拒法律的人

► see thesaurus at disobey

2 defy description/analysis/belief etc DESCRIBEto be almost impossible to describe or understand 无法描述/分析/相信等

The beauty of the scene defies description.

景色之美简直无法形容。

Examples from the Corpus

defy description/analysis/belief etc• His changeable features, his tones, gestures and expressions seemed to defy descriptions.• Like the secret of Stradivari's varnish, this extra dimension defies analysis.• Two other women lay upon the counter a pickle-bottle and a glass vessel of a kind which altogether defies description.• It defies belief and makes you question exactly who the law is protecting here: the sick minds or their young victims?• The dam defied description; it defied belief.• His swerve was something that defied analysis; just as it defied attempts to counter it.• Yet other species exhibit variation patterns that defy analysis of the sophistication of present-day biology.

3 defy logic/the odds etc to not happen according to the principles you would expect 不合逻辑/出人意料等

a 16-week premature baby who defied the odds and survived

奇迹般活下来的早产16周的婴儿

Examples from the Corpus

defy logic/the odds etc• That Jaime Guerrero is alive to attend the dinner probably defies the odds.• In the event, the cyclist defied the odds and survived.

4 I defy somebody to do something ASK FOR something/ASK somebody TO DO something spoken formal used when you ask someone to do something that you think is impossible 我倒要看某人能否做成某事

I defy anyone to prove otherwise.

我倒要看看哪一位能提出反证。

Examples from the Corpus

I defy somebody to do something• Derbyshire folk may query the authenticity of this but I defy them not to enjoy the results.• Willing my heart to beat normally, I defy the urge to turn back or freeze or cry out.

Examples from the Corpus

defy• Billy defied his mother, and smoked openly in the house.• For the song of the suffering servant helps unlock the mystery that defies logic.• It is an industry that, recently anyway, almost defies logic.• Through their various plights, the drama questions a world where feminine ideals regularly defy rational explanation.• Only deer slots in the mud have defied the access restrictions.• The conservatives surprised everyone by agreeing to defy the government and overspend by almost as much ... ten million.• Scopes was forbidden to teach Darwin's theory of evolution, but he defied the law.• She said she would defy the party leader and vote against him.• Its meteoric ascent defied the usual explanations.• This celebration of Thanksgiving defies tradition.

Origin defy

(1300-1400) Old French defier, from Latin fidere “to trust”

de·fy verb

Chinese

Syllable

Corpus