Waterloo
Americannoun
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a village in central Belgium, south of Brussels: Napoleon decisively defeated here on June 18, 1815.
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a decisive or crushing defeat.
The candidate met her Waterloo in the national elections.
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a city in E Iowa.
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a city in SE Ontario, in S Canada.
noun
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a small town in central Belgium, in Walloon Brabant province south of Brussels: battle (1815) fought nearby in which British and Prussian forces under the Duke of Wellington and Blücher routed the French under Napoleon. Pop: 29 003 (2004 est)
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a total or crushing defeat (esp in meet one's Waterloo )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Bakerloo, Piccadilly and Central lines were part suspended, while the Circle and Waterloo & City lines were suspended entirely.
From BBC • Jun. 2, 2026
Grabbing the mic, he launches into a squeaky falsetto version of Abba's Waterloo, followed by Tommy Cash's 2025 entry Espresso Macchiato, complete with its loose-limbed choreography.
From BBC • May 14, 2026
“English Liberator” reads like a period war novel, an enjoyable ride for the history buff looking for unheralded adventure stories bridging the gap between Waterloo and Fort Sumter.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
Julian Prosia, a 31-year-old optometrist in Waterloo, Ontario, was living a healthy life when he and his wife started planning for a baby.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026
Was this the kid sister he had last seen on Waterloo Station only three months ago, and now a member of an international elite?
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
