Waterloo

American  

[waw-ter-loo, wot-er-, waw-ter-loo, wot-er-, vah-tuhr-loh] / ˈwɔ tərˌlu, ˈwɒt ər-, ˌwɔ tərˈlu, ˌwɒt ər-, ˈvɑ tərˌloʊ /

noun

1. a village in central Belgium, south of Brussels: Napoleon decisively defeated here on June 18, 1815.

2. a decisive or crushing defeat.

   The candidate met her Waterloo in the national elections.

3. a city in E Iowa.

4. a city in SE Ontario, in S Canada.

---

Waterloo British  

/ ˌwɔːtəˈluː /

noun

1. 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)

2. a total or crushing defeat (esp in meet one's Waterloo )

---

Waterloo Idioms  

1. see meet one's waterloo.

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Waterloo

There are 65 Canadian colleges listed, he says, including McGill University, the University of Toronto, the University of Waterloo and the University of British Columbia.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026

Researchers from Kyushu University, the University of Waterloo, and Stockholm University may now have part of the answer.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026

The monument, showing the Duke on his faithful horse Copenhagen, was designed by the Italian artist Carlo Marochetti and erected in 1844 to commemorate his victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026

Organisers in Belgium said they had cancelled this weekend's reenactment of Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo because of the heatwave.

From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026

I am writing these words in 1984, but this grandfather of mine was born, believe it or not, in 1820, shortly after Wellington had defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.

From "Boy: Tales of a Childhood" by Roald Dahl