defyde‧fy /dɪˈfaɪ/ ●●○ verb (past tense and past participle defied, present participle defying, third person singular defies) [transitive] 
Word Origin Examples
people who openly defy the law► see thesaurus at disobey2defy description/analysis/belief etc to be almost impossible to describe or understand: The beauty of the scene defies description.3defy logic/the odds etc to not happen according to the principles you would expect: a 16-week premature baby who defied the odds and survived4I defy somebody to do something spoken formal used when you ask someone to do something that you think is impossible: I defy anyone to prove otherwise.
Word OriginWORD ORIGINdefy
Verb TableOrigin:
1300-1400 Old French defier, from Latin fidere ‘to trust’VERB TABLE
defy
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | defy |
| he, she, it | defies | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | defied |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have defied |
| he, she, it | has defied | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had defied |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will defy |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have defied |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am defying |
| he, she, it | is defying | |
| you, we, they | are defying | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was defying |
| you, we, they | were defying | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been defying |
| he, she, it | has been defying | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been defying |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be defying |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been defying |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- Billy defied his mother, and smoked openly in the house.
- 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.
- This celebration of Thanksgiving defies tradition.
- For the song of the suffering servant helps unlock the mystery that defies logic.
- It is an industry that, recently anyway, almost defies logic.
- Its meteoric ascent defied the usual explanations.
- 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.
- Through their various plights, the drama questions a world where feminine ideals regularly defy rational explanation.
THESAURUS► disobey
Collocations to not obey a person, order, rule, or law: · In the army, it is a crime to disobey a superior officer.· He had disobeyed the school rules.
► break a law/rule to not obey a law or rule: · Anyone who breaks the law must expect to be punished.
► defy formal to deliberately refuse to obey a rule or law, or what someone in authority tells you to do: · The police arrested the youth for defying a court order.
► flout formal to deliberately disobey a rule or law in a very public way: · Timber companies are continuing to flout environmental laws.
► violate formal to disobey a law, or do something that is against an agreement or principle: · Both countries have accused each other of violating the treaty.· Technically he had violated the law.
► contravene formal to be against a law, rule, or agreement, or to do something that is against a law, rule, or agreement: · The British government’s actions contravened the European Convention on Human Rights.
Longman Language Activatorto not obey a person► disobey to not do what you are told to do by someone in authority: · It was unfair of the teacher to make us stay after school, but no one dared disobey.· My father was very strict and old-fashioned, but I never disobeyed him. · Black had disobeyed the judge's ruling, and continued to harass his ex-wife.
► not do as you're told if someone, especially a child, does not do as they are told , they refuse to obey a parent, teacher, etc: · "Daddy, why?" "Don't ask, just do as you're told."· If she doesn't do as she's told, send her to her room.
► defy to deliberately disobey someone in authority, even though you know this will make them angry: · Billy defied his mother, and smoked openly in the house.· She said she would defy the party leader and vote against him.
► go against somebody's wishes to not do what someone has asked you to do, or what you know they want you to do: · They went against their parents' wishes and got married secretly.· Sacha went against her family's wishes by leaving school at 16.
► rebel to deliberately behave in a way that is completely different from the way that your parents and people in general expect you to behave: · Her parents wanted her to go to university, but she rebelled and went to live on a commune.rebel against: · Teenagers tend to rebel against people in authority.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES► defy common sense
Phrases (=not be sensible)· The proposed change in the law defies common sense.
► defy convention (=not do what is accepted or normal)· At the time she was defying convention by living with a man.
► defy logic (=to not be reasonable)· It defies logic to import food that we can grow more easily and cheaply here.
► beat/overcome/defy the odds (=succeed despite great difficulties)· The baby, born sixteen weeks too early, defied the odds and is celebrating her first birthday.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB► openly· But the relationship with Pataki deteriorated precipitously in recent days as McCaughey Ross openly defied him.
NOUN► ban· He thought she was probably here without his permission, perhaps defying a specific ban.
► convention· To defy convention, surrender her virginity, to a man she neither loved nor desired must be quite out of the question.· Amber, nevertheless, defied conventions, behaved outrageously, and pursued her man in a manner quite unusual for the 19405.· He had been ready to defy the conventions and take on the world - and win! he thought.· But thankfully, Leeann Tweeden defies this rotten convention-and how!· You could, of course, defy convention and make all your early turns to the right.
► court· Faubus had defied the federal court.
► death· When he found her, he defied the power of Death to keep her from him; and Death yielded.
► description· Two other women lay upon the counter a pickle-bottle and a glass vessel of a kind which altogether defies description.
► government· Another backbencher was told his place on a Foreign Office organised trip would be withdrawn if he defied the Government.· In effect, South Carolina had again successfully defied the national government.· The Asaimara were thereby convinced they could successfully defy the Government.· Would she send the troops in to show that nobody could defy the federal government?· The conservatives surprised everyone by agreeing to defy the government and overspend by almost as much ... ten million.· Gloucestershire County Council would defy the Government and spend an extra £10m.
► gravity· It should, because the gravity-defying performance of stocks in London and New York is eerily redolent of 1929.
► law· Miners' leader Arthur Scargill's call to defy Tory union laws was rejected.· Two people who defied law enforcement barricades, and who were arrested and jailed, spoke at the meeting.· They have rewritten the record books, stormed the male bastion of Grandmaster chess, and defied the laws of probability.· They defy customs, laws and traditions in a move toward social, moral and political liberty.· Bosses defied the law to woo last-minute Christmas shoppers from Oxford Street rivals.· Like the rest of the glass, he wrote, it defies the second law of thermo-dynamics.· In their anomalous behaviour electric arcs seemed to defy Ohm's Law and she discovered the cause of this.· Apparently it defies the laws of physics.
► logic· For the song of the suffering servant helps unlock the mystery that defies logic.· The Raiders could make a great second-half run, but that would defy logic.· With all these artists' patches there are some sounds which are great and others which defy logic.· It is an industry that, recently anyway, almost defies logic.· This is a precious text, its publishers and authors are saying, that gloriously defies vulgar commercial logic.· The rally has defied all odds and logic with only two, short interruptions since it began its climb in August 1982.· When, defying logic, the Burt Bacharach horns come in, it's the pop moment at its life-affirming best.· The afternoon stretches on and on, defying the logic of watch time.
► odds· In the event, the cyclist defied the odds and survived.· That Jaime Guerrero is alive to attend the dinner probably defies the odds.· This movie defied all the odds.· The rally has defied all odds and logic with only two, short interruptions since it began its climb in August 1982.
► order· Of course, he defied doctor's orders, and in 1977 he died of a massive heart attack, aged sixty.· Sunday, throngs of demonstrators defied orders to disperse.· Together, the three formed a faction whose parliamentary members last October defied orders from their leadership and voted in favour of Maastricht.· Even if we live as pure as nuns, we defy the patriarchal order just by existing.· At home, Edna was in her final campaign against Jane Ming-li, who continued to defy the new order.· An animal which can not be classified defies the order of things.
► rule· Helicopters appear to defy this rule by having wings that rotate within a disc.· He was wildly irreverent, too, and loved nothing better than defying rules and deflating self-important petty officials.· She ran a bath, defying the rule by more than half filling the tub instead of sticking to the permitted five inches.· To act on or defy a socially established rule has effects on all who benefit or suffer by its observance.
VERB► seem· In their anomalous behaviour electric arcs seemed to defy Ohm's Law and she discovered the cause of this.· That trade that seems to defy conventional wisdom?
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► defy description/analysis/belief etc► defy logic/the odds etc► I defy somebody to do something
1to refuse to obey a law or rule, or refuse to do what someone in authority tells you to do → defiance: - His changeable features, his tones, gestures and expressions seemed to defy descriptions.
- His swerve was something that defied analysis; just as it defied attempts to counter it.
- It defies belief and makes you question exactly who the law is protecting here: the sick minds or their young victims?
- Like the secret of Stradivari's varnish, this extra dimension defies analysis.
- The dam defied description; it defied belief.
- Two other women lay upon the counter a pickle-bottle and a glass vessel of a kind which altogether defies description.
- Yet other species exhibit variation patterns that defy analysis of the sophistication of present-day biology.
- In the event, the cyclist defied the odds and survived.
- That Jaime Guerrero is alive to attend the dinner probably defies the odds.
- 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.
people who openly defy the law► see thesaurus at disobey2defy description/analysis/belief etc to be almost impossible to describe or understand: The beauty of the scene defies description.3defy logic/the odds etc to not happen according to the principles you would expect: a 16-week premature baby who defied the odds and survived4I defy somebody to do something spoken formal used when you ask someone to do something that you think is impossible: I defy anyone to prove otherwise.