# defense

Pronunciation: say "di-FENS" /dɪˈfɛns/

## Noun

1. 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.
   - Simple: The act of keeping someone or something safe from attack, danger, or harm.
   - _The villagers organized a defense when raiders approached the settlement._
   - _Volunteers took up arms in defense of the city during the long siege._
2. In sports, the players whose job is to stop the other team from scoring, or the system they use to do it.
   - Simple: In sports, the players whose job is to stop the other team from scoring, or the way they do this.
   - _The team's defense held strong through the final quarter._
   - _Coaches often praise a defense that forces turnovers._
3. Government policy and infrastructure relating to a country's military.
   - Simple: Everything a country does to protect itself with its armed forces.
   - _Congress debated the defense budget late into the night._
   - _National defense remains a top priority for the new administration._
4. Anything that is used to resist an attack or to hold attackers off.
   - Simple: Something that is used to protect against an attack.
   - _Sharp spines are the porcupine's chief defense against predators._
   - _Soldiers spent the night strengthening the city's defenses before the expected assault._
5. The case presented by a defendant in a civil or criminal legal proceeding.
   - Simple: The reasons and facts given in court for a person who is accused or being sued.
   - _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._
6. An argument made to support or justify something.
   - Simple: Words you use to support or explain why something is right.
   - _The essay offered a spirited defense of free public libraries._
   - _She mounted a thoughtful defense of her unconventional methods._
7. The lawyer or team of lawyers representing the defendant in a criminal or civil case.
   - Simple: The lawyer or lawyers who represent someone accused of a crime or sued in a civil case.
   - _The defense objected to the line of questioning._
   - _Both the prosecution and the defense agreed to a recess._

## Verb

8. To use defensive tactics in order to block the opposing team. *(US)*
   - Simple: To play in a way that stops the other team from scoring.
   - _Coaches drilled the players on how to defense a pick-and-roll._
   - _The unit defensed the play perfectly and forced a turnover._

## Verb

9. To equip with defenses; to defend or protect. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To protect someone or something, especially a place, by giving it walls or other defenses.

## Noun

10. A prohibition; an official order forbidding something. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An order from an authority that forbids people from doing something.

## Origin

**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.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/defense (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).