English Explanatory Dictionary

defense

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The action of defending or protecting from attack, danger, or injury.
  2. Anything employed to oppose attack(s).
  3. A strategy and tactics employed to prevent the other team from scoring; contrasted with offense.
  4. The portion of a team dedicated to preventing the other team from scoring; contrasted with offense.
  5. An argument in support or justification of something.
  6. The case presented by the defendant in a legal proceeding.
  7. The lawyer or team thereof who presents such a case.
  8. Government policy or (infra)structure related to the military.
  9. A prohibition; a prohibitory ordinance.
verb
  1. To employ defensive tactics (so as to block).
verb
  1. To furnish with defenses; to defend, protect.

Pronunciation

/dɪˈfɛns/ en-us-defence.ogg /ˈdiːˌfɛns/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-defense.wav

Word forms

defense defenses defence defensing defensed

Etymology

From Middle English defens, defense, from Old French defens, defense, from Late Latin dēfēnsa (“protection”). Displaced native Old English bewering. The verb is from the noun.

Synonyms

defence defense fortification guard preservation protection safeguard shield ward

Antonyms

offense prosecution attack

Related words

defend

Derived words

air defense air-defense antidefense anti-slut defense Apartheid Defense League attack is the best form of defense biodefense black rage defense chemical defense Chewbacca defense civil defense counterdefense cyberdefense DEFCON defense attorney defense in abatement defense-independent pitching statistics defense in depth defense lawyer defenseless defense mechanism defense wound defensin defensive defensiveness eco-defense ecodefense gay panic defense homosexual panic defense immunodefense man-to-man defense Matrix defense misdefense nondefense Nuremberg defense orbital defense platform Pac-Man defense personal defense weapon prevent defense self-defense self-defense wound Shaggy defense space defense special defense the best defense is a good offense thesis defense tower defense trans panic defense zone defense

Translations

Armenian: պաշտպանություն Bulgarian: отбра́на Bulgarian: отбрани́телни съоръже́ния Catalan: defensa Catalan: protecció Chinese Mandarin: 防禦物 /防御物 Czech: obrana Danish: forsvar Dutch: verdediging Dutch: verweer Faroese: verja Finnish: puolustus Finnish: puolustelu French: défense Georgian: თავდაცვა German: Verteidigung Greek: άμυνα Hebrew: הגנה Hungarian: védelem Hungarian: védés Hungarian: védekezés Italian: difesa Central Kurdish: بەرگری Latin: mūnīmen Latin: mūnīmentum Latin: dēfēnsa Macedonian: одбрана Māori: whakarurunga Old English: bewering Polish: obrona Portuguese: defesa Portuguese: escudo Romanian: apărare Russian: защи́та Russian: оборо́на Russian: оборони́тельные сооруже́ния Serbo-Croatian: о̏дбрана Serbo-Croatian: о̏брана Serbo-Croatian: ȍdbrana Serbo-Croatian: ȍbrana Spanish: defensa Spanish: descargo Swedish: försvar Swedish: värn Vietnamese: phòng thủ Vietnamese: phòng ngự Vietnamese: phòng vệ Vietnamese: phản biện Gothic: 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌾𐍉𐌽𐍃 Ancient Greek: ἀπολογία Urdu: صَفائی
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