English Explanatory Dictionary

defend

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To ward off attacks against; to fight to protect; to guard.
  2. To support by words or writing; to vindicate, talk in favour of.
  3. To make legal defence of; to represent (the accused).
  4. To focus one's energies and talents on preventing opponents from scoring, as opposed to focusing on scoring.
  5. Mostly in tests. The action of not putting force into hitting a shot, but to conserve energy and wear down bowlers so they can attack later.
  6. To attempt to retain a title, or attempt to reach the same stage in a competition as one did in the previous instance of that competition.
  7. To call a raise from the big blind.
  8. To ward off, repel (an attack or attacker).
  9. To prevent, to keep (from doing something).
  10. To prohibit, forbid.

Pronunciation

/dɪˈfɛnd/ /diˈfɛnd/ /dəˈfɛnd/ en-us-defend.ogg

Word forms

defend defends defending defended no-table-tags glossary defendest defendedst defendeth

Etymology

From Middle English defenden, from Old French defendre, deffendre (Modern French défendre), from Latin dēfendō (“to ward off”), from Proto-Italic *fendō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen-. Displaced native Old English bewerian.

Synonyms

beshield beward brood cape for defend fend guard preserve protect safeguard secure shelter shield ward

Antonyms

attack

Related words

defence defense defensive fend fender fend off forfend indulge

Derived words

defendable defendant defendee defender defending dexify misdefend redefend underdefend
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on D Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary