What could one old woman do to defy fate?

How dare we defy fate by speaking ill of someone whose loss would be forever felt?

"She would refuse to accept it, or else defy fate."

Or would that not be defying fate?.the same fate that had reversed his own fortunes that very night?

HOW'S this for a cautionary tale about the folly of defying fate?

The lure is the rush: that heady moment when, for a split second, they defy gravity and fate.

It was as if every ounce of fierce hope had lifted him, as if by sheer will a man can defy gravity and fate.

"Star-crossed" is an expression referring to a situation in which one or more individuals attempts to defy fate.

I'd been in the grasslands, defying fate, stupidly but not unwillingly.

Mr. Ortega seemed to be defying fate in a solo about a dying man.