DictionaryAI

defense

di-FENS/dɪˈfɛns/

Pluraldefenses

UK spellingdefence

10 meanings of defense

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  1. 1
    protectionnouncountable or uncountable
    The act of protecting a person, place or thing from attack, danger or injury: the protecting itself, not the means used to do it or an argument made for it.

    The villagers organized a defense when raiders approached the settlement.

    Volunteers took up arms in defense of the city during the long siege.

    UsageCommon phrases: fight in defense of the city, rush to someone's defense, a defense against attack.

    Similarprotection, resistance, security

    Oppositeattack, assault

    Note

    It names the activity itself, as in rushing to the town's defense; the walls and weapons used are the things that defend. The team, the courtroom and the military budget each narrow this one.

  2. 2
    back linenouncountable or uncountable
    In sports, the players whose job is to stop the other team from scoring, or the system they use to do it.

    The team's defense held strong through the final quarter.

    Coaches often praise a defense that forces turnovers.

    UsageSay play defense, with no article. The opposite side is offense, and teams can be counted: the two best defenses.

    Note

    Commentators slide between the people and their scheme without warning: a defense that holds strong is the players on the field, while a zone defense is the plan they run. Coaches build rosters around one and draw up the other.

  3. 3
    nouneuphemisticuncountable
    Government policy and infrastructure relating to a country's military.

    Congress debated the defense budget late into the night.

    National defense remains a top priority for the new administration.

    UsageCommon before other nouns: defense budget, defense spending, and in names like the Department of Defense.

    Note

    A euphemism of state: calling the military establishment "defense" describes armies, budgets and bases by their protective purpose.

  4. 4
    nouncountable
    Anything that is used to resist an attack or to hold attackers off.

    Sharp spines are the porcupine's chief defense against predators.

    Soldiers spent the night strengthening the city's defenses before the expected assault.

    UsageOften plural for a place's walls and works: the city's defenses. The threat follows against: a defense against predators.

    Similarsafeguard, fortification, shield

    Note

    A city's defenses are its walls and earthworks taken together, and a tortoise's defense is its shell. Where the act of defending names what someone does, this sense names what they do it with.

  5. 5
    accused's casenouncountable or uncountable
    The case presented by a defendant in a civil or criminal legal proceeding.

    The judge allowed an insanity defense despite the prosecutor's strong objections.

    Their whole defense depended on proving that the contract had never been signed.

    UsageOften named by its ground: an insanity defense. Lawyers raise or mount a defense.

    Oppositeprosecution

    Note

    Law narrows the argument to one side of a trial. It covers everything the defendant puts forward against the charges or claim: witnesses, evidence and the closing argument. Its counterpart is the prosecution's or the plaintiff's case. The same word with the article also names the lawyers who argue it, as in "the defense called three witnesses."

  6. 6
    nouncountable or uncountable
    An argument made to support or justify something.

    The essay offered a spirited defense of free public libraries.

    She mounted a thoughtful defense of her unconventional methods.

    UsageWhat is justified follows of: a defense of libraries. You mount or offer one, and come to someone's defense.

    Similarjustification, vindication, argument

    Oppositeattack, criticism, condemnation

  7. 7
    accused's lawyersnouncountable or uncountable
    The lawyer or team of lawyers representing the defendant in a criminal or civil case.

    The defense objected to the line of questioning.

    Both the prosecution and the defense agreed to a recess.

    UsageUsually with the, as the side opposite the prosecution: the defense objected.

    Similarcounsel

    Oppositeprosecution

    Note

    Courtroom English names each side by its job, and here the job stands in for the people: the defense objects, requests a recess, questions a witness. Context usually separates the lawyers from the case they present, and when it does not, little meaning is lost.

Less common meanings

  1. 8
    stop a playverbUStransitive or intransitive
    To use defensive tactics in order to block the opposing team.

    Coaches drilled the players on how to defense a pick-and-roll.

    The unit defensed the play perfectly and forced a turnover.

    UsagePast form defensed; the object can be an opposing player or play: defense a pick-and-roll. Defend is the more common verb.

    Similardefend, guard

    Note

    A sportswriter's verb made from the noun, unlike the archaic "fortify" verb, which came from Latin. It can also stand alone, as when Tennessee coach Donnie Tyndall said his players "defensed the right way."

  2. 9
    verbarchaic
    To equip with defenses; to defend or protect.
    The Country of Britain was in old times adorned with 28 Cities, beſide innumerable number of Caſtles defenſed with ſtrong Walls, Towers, Gates and Locks.
    1661, Percie Enderbie, Cambria Triumphans
    Note

    This verb has a lineage of its own, coming through Middle English defencen from Old French defenser or Latin dēfēnsō. Its natural object is a place: Percie Enderbie's Cambria Triumphans (1661) has castles "defensed with strong Walls," while George Turberville's Tragicall Tales (1587) stretches it to a man "defenst with darke of night." It is archaic now, so keep it for period flavor.

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • The verb comes through Middle English defencen from Old French defenser or Latin dēfēnsō. en.wiktionary.org
    • Percie Enderbie wrote Cambria Triumphans, published in 1661. archive.org
    • Cambria Triumphans describes castles as defensed with strong Walls. en.wiktionary.org
    • George Turberville's Tragicall Tales describes a man as defenst with darke of night. en.wiktionary.org
  3. 10
    nounobsoletecountable
    A prohibition; an official order forbidding something.
    Note

    An obsolete sense in which the word forbade rather than protected: a defense was an order against doing something, the kind a king or town might proclaim. Readers meet it only in older texts, where it is easy to misread. A defense against carrying arms bans the carrying. In modern writing, use prohibition or ban instead.

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Defense had an obsolete meaning of a prohibition or official prohibitory order. en.wiktionary.org
    • In the prohibition sense, a defense against carrying arms would ban carrying them; this is an illustrative example. en.wiktionary.org

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–8, 10

Late Latin dēfēnsa ("protection") became Old French defens/defense and then Middle English defens/defense. The noun pushed out the native Old English bewering, and the verb was formed from the noun.

Meaning 9

Its source is Old French defenser, or perhaps directly Latin dēfēnsō, the word behind defenser; Middle English had it as defencen/defensen.