What's the difference between defy and fight?

Defy


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To renounce or dissolve all bonds of affiance, faith, or obligation with; to reject, refuse, or renounce.
  • (v. t.) To provoke to combat or strife; to call out to combat; to challenge; to dare; to brave; to set at defiance; to treat with contempt; as, to defy an enemy; to defy the power of a magistrate; to defy the arguments of an opponent; to defy public opinion.
  • (n.) A challenge.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) For his lone, perilous journey that defied the US occupation authorities, Burchett was pilloried, not least by his embedded colleagues.
  • (2) "We have Revolutionary Guards who defied orders, though they were severely punished, expelled from the force and taken to prison," he says.
  • (3) He said his party was determined to go ahead with the poll, even if it meant defying Spain's constitutional court, which Rull dismissed as biased.
  • (4) When several of its semi-autonomous cars were caught running red lights, the state ordered their removal from the road – an order Uber openly defied , blaming the traffic light violations on “human error” and suspending the people monitoring the cars.
  • (5) Speaker Paul Ryan and majority leader Kevin McCarthy, the two top House Republicans, had argued in Monday’s meeting – held with no prior notice – against making the unilateral ethics change, calling for a bipartisan approach at a later date, but rank-and-file Republicans defied their leadership.
  • (6) Heidi Allen, the Conservative MP for South Cambridgeshire, abstained in last week’s vote but said she and others would defy the party whip if concessions were not offered.
  • (7) Barack Obama has defied a Republican Congress to move ahead on his climate agenda on Wednesday, cracking down on methane emissions from America’s oil and natural gas boom.
  • (8) The home secretary, Theresa May , has defied her own expert advisers and banned qat, a mild herbal stimulant that is traditionally used by Britain's Somali, Yemeni and Ethiopian communities.
  • (9) No call for the resurrection of the proud, shared traditions of Scots, Welsh and English people as they defied the powerful to build a better society; no convincing pledge that a new Britain would be forged, just and equal and fair unlike what New Labour failed to deliver.
  • (10) Some samples with complex patterns defied classification, and it is speculated that these may be from persons with duplicated C7 genes.
  • (11) Sales on the high street were much higher than expected this month, rising at their fastest rate in six years as consumers defied the gloomy economic outlook.
  • (12) But the instruction issued by the party headquarters in Paris was defied by the Socialist candidate in the Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine region, who came third but announced he would stand for the second round anyway.
  • (13) This was the childhood playground of actor Richard Harris, where he performed death-defying handstands and cycling tricks on the cliffside walls when not showboating by the sea.
  • (14) Just as no single description is universally applicable to the mode of action of vitamin A derivatives, so too do their toxic effects defy generalization.
  • (15) He has been held without charges since his arrest on 5 June but has been informed that under martial law he faces up to 14 years in prison on possible charges of inciting unrest, violating cyber laws and defying the junta's orders.
  • (16) Writers should be making more of an effort to write interesting parts for actors of colour that defy stereotypes, or implementing a Geena Davis type solution (simply change any character in a script into a woman) for race.
  • (17) It defies the logic of personal ambition that grows stronger with proximity to the biggest job in the world.
  • (18) It was so I could tell Jeremy that I had backed him.” Corbyn has defied not only Fletcher’s expectations but everyone else’s.
  • (19) But, since then, it has fallen to around $1,660 (£1,047) defying predictions – and the hopes of speculators – that it would continue to hit new peaks during the ongoing financial turmoil.
  • (20) For the last five months, he has enjoyed unprecedented political dominance, after an election where the SNP defied the logic of Holyrood's semi-proportional system by winning an absolute majority, sweeping into power with nearly 50% of the vote.

Fight


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To strive or contend for victory, with armies or in single combat; to attempt to defeat, subdue, or destroy an enemy, either by blows or weapons; to contend in arms; -- followed by with or against.
  • (v. i.) To act in opposition to anything; to struggle against; to contend; to strive; to make resistance.
  • (v. t.) To carry on, or wage, as a conflict, or battle; to win or gain by struggle, as one's way; to sustain by fighting, as a cause.
  • (v. t.) To contend with in battle; to war against; as, they fought the enemy in two pitched battles; the sloop fought the frigate for three hours.
  • (v. t.) To cause to fight; to manage or maneuver in a fight; as, to fight cocks; to fight one's ship.
  • (v. i.) A battle; an engagement; a contest in arms; a combat; a violent conflict or struggle for victory, between individuals or between armies, ships, or navies, etc.
  • (v. i.) A struggle or contest of any kind.
  • (v. i.) Strength or disposition for fighting; pugnacity; as, he has a great deal of fight in him.
  • (v. i.) A screen for the combatants in ships.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) beta-Endorphin blocked the development of fighting responses when a low footshock intensity was used, but facilitated it when a high shock intensity was delivered.
  • (2) A 45-year-old mother of four, named as Hediye Sen, was killed during clashes in Cizre, while a 70-year-old died of a heart attack during fighting in Silopi, according to hospital sources.
  • (3) At the ceremony, the Taliban welcomed dialogue with Washington but said their fighters would not stop fighting.
  • (4) A dozen peers hold ministerial positions and Westminster officials are expecting them to keep the paperwork to run the country flowing and the ministerial seats warm while their elected colleagues fight for votes.
  • (5) I hope they fight for the money to make their jobs worth doing, because it's only with the money (a drop in the ocean though it may be) that they'll be able to do anything.
  • (6) They argue that the US, the world's largest producer of greenhouse gases per capita (China recently surpassed us in sheer volume), needs to lead the fight to limit carbon emissions, rather continuing to block global treaties as it has done in the past.
  • (7) If there was to be guerrilla warfare, I wanted to be able to stand and fight with my people and to share the hazards of war with them.
  • (8) How big tobacco lost its final fight for hearts, lungs and minds Read more Shares in Imperial closed down 1% and British American Tobacco lost 0.75%, both underperforming the FTSE100’s 0.3% decline.
  • (9) But still we have to fight for health benefits, we have to jump through loops … Why doesn’t the NFL offer free healthcare for life, especially for those suffering from brain injury?” The commissioner, however, was quick to remind Davis that benefits are agreed as part of the collective bargaining process held between the league and the players’ union, and said that they had been extended during the most recent round of negotiations.
  • (10) Unlike most birds of prey, which are territorial and fight each other over nesting and hunting grounds, the hen harrier nests close to other harriers.
  • (11) Like many families, we’ve had to move to escape the fighting.
  • (12) Critics of wind power peddle the same old myths about investment in new energy sources adding to families' fuel bills , preferring to pick a fight with people concerned about the environment, than stand up to vested interests in the energy industry, for the hard-pressed families and pensioners being ripped off by the energy giants.
  • (13) When the election comes, we won’t be campaigning for a coalition... ...we will be fighting heart and soul for a majority Conservative Government – because that is what our country needs.
  • (14) We have much more fighting to do!” Now Cherwell is preparing to publish letters or articles from other students who have been inspired to open up about their own ordeals.
  • (15) We need to put our heads together, and get our act together to fight corruption.
  • (16) It’s useless if we try and fight with them through force, so we try and fight with them through humour.” “There is a saying that laughing is the best form of medicine.
  • (17) He was fighting to breathe.” The decision on her father’s case came just 10 days after a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, found there was not enough evidence to indict a white police officer for shooting dead an unarmed black teenager called Michael Brown.
  • (18) That’s why I thought: ‘I hope Tyson wins – even if he never gives me a shot.’ As long as the heavyweight titles are out of Germany we could have some interesting fights.
  • (19) Everyone expressed commitment to fight climate change.
  • (20) His greatest legacy, besides his three children, is the joy and happiness he offered to others, particularly to those fighting personal battles.