(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.
Instigate
Definition:
(v. t.) To goad or urge forward; to set on; to provoke; to incite; -- used chiefly with reference to evil actions; as to instigate one to a crime.
Example Sentences:
(1) He said he will pursue new measures, including demolishing the homes of instigators.
(2) The dazzling Deulofeu was the instigator of the first.
(3) In a majority of the cases electro-acupuncture was found to be effective, and this treatment should be instigated as early as possible.
(4) The move, first mooted two months ago, has been instigated with Jol's blessing and the new man was quick to insist he had spent "many hours" talking with his compatriot prior to accepting the position, even if his arrival effectively dilutes the manager's powerbase at the club.
(5) Murdoch has instigated a series of cost-cutting measures in newspapers in London, New York and Sydney as part of financial restructuring ahead of the de-merger.
(6) Mustafa's defence was that he watched police officers plant the weapon during a search of the flat and, when he demanded to know why they were doing it, he was told it was at the instigation of British authorities.
(7) Die Mannschaft were eliminated in the group stage that year, a failure that instigated a major revamp of the nation’s academy system.
(8) The man who renounced Australia Read more It was “not so much a defence to the charges [but] a negotiating point or olive branch” held out to the commonwealth to instigate discussion towards a treaty and formal consent for its occupation of the land, he said.
(9) She writes: Reassurances from the US that short-term measures will be instigated to avert the upcoming debt-ceiling deadline have given European equity markets a jolt upwards, helping to stem some of the risk aversion of the past few days.
(10) Pediatricians are important instigators of behavior change for the promotion of nonsmoking.
(11) The striking similarity between virtual and real effects in this respect is best explained in terms of physiological border perception processes, possibly instigated by a cognitive mechanism.
(12) The task was designed in an attempt to isolate (a) frustration from attack as the instigator of aggression and (b) instrumental from hostile aggression as the desired outcome.
(13) Tony Abbott on Sunday announced he would instigate a “root and branch” review of the parliamentary entitlements system, following the resignation of embattled speaker Bronwyn Bishop .
(14) Retrospective analysis of the validity and application of these experimental data and consideration of the problems related to precipitation of magnesium salts in "intracellular" perfusates has instigated investigation related to the necessity of including this ingredient in our previously described hyperosmolar intracellular electrolyte solutions.
(15) At the Hague conference, instigated at Washington's request to rally international support for Obama's new strategy in Afghanistan, Finland's foreign minister, Alexander Stubb, called on the Karzai government to respond to the Guardian report, a call echoed by Iceland, while Norway also expressed concern over the trend in women's rights.
(16) Jang Song-thaek, previously one of the country's most powerful men, was accused of everything from plotting to overthrow the state to instigating disastrous currency reforms and dishing out pornography in the report from official news agency KCNA.
(17) The results support the contention that ionizing radiation instigates alterations in the dynamic permeability of membranes, allowing leakage of biologically active material out of the injured cell.
(18) She said she inherited the arrangement when she joined the bank, adding: "At my instigation ... the model is being actively reviewed."
(19) The letter followed a pledge in February by hundreds of artists and musicians to instigate a cultural boycott of Israel due to the country’s “unrelenting attack on [Palestinian] land, their livelihood, their right to political existence”.
(20) Falconer said: "What schedule 7 allows an examining officer to do is to question somebody in order to determine whether he is somebody who is preparing, instigating or commissioning terrorism.