DEFECTOR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does defector mean? 

• DEFECTOR (noun)
  The noun DEFECTOR has 1 sense:

1. a person who abandons their duty (as on a military post)

  Familiarity information: DEFECTOR used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DEFECTOR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person who abandons their duty (as on a military post)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

defector; deserter

Hypernyms ("defector" is a kind of...):

offender; wrongdoer (a person who transgresses moral or civil law)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "defector"):

deviationist (an ideological defector from the party line (especially from orthodox communism))

draft dodger; draft evader (someone who is drafted and illegally refuses to serve)

renegade (someone who rebels and becomes an outlaw)

walk-in (an operative who initiates his own defection (usually to a hostile country) for political asylum)

Derivation:

defect (desert (a cause, a country or an army), often in order to join the opposing cause, country, or army)