After their defeat in battle, the soldiers surrendered.

defeat 是名词，来自动词 defeat（击败、战胜），表示"失败"或"战败"的状态。在军事语境中特指"战败"。 defeat 由前缀 de-（表示"向下、去除"）和词根 feat（来自拉丁语 facere，意为"做、完成"）组成，字面意思是"使...做不成"，引申为"击败"。