defence

[dih-fens]

noun

defenced, defencing 

1. British.,  variant of defense.

defence

/ dɪˈfɛns /

noun

1. resistance against danger, attack, or harm; protection

2. a person or thing that provides such resistance

3. a plea, essay, speech, etc, in support of something; vindication; justification

4. 1. a country's military measures or resources

   2. ( as modifier )

      defence spending

5. law a defendant's denial of the truth of the allegations or charge against him

6. law the defendant and his legal advisers collectively Compare prosecution

7. sport

   1. the action of protecting oneself, one's goal, or one's allotted part of the playing area against an opponent's attacks

   2. the method of doing this

   3. the players in a team whose function is to do this

8. American football (usually preceded by the)

   1. the team that does not have possession of the ball

   2. the members of a team that play in such circumstances

9. psychoanal See defence mechanism

10. (plural) fortifications

Other Word Forms

• defenceable adjective
• defenceless adjective
• defencelessly adverb
• defencelessness noun
• predefence noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of defence¹

C13: from Old French, from Late Latin dēfensum, past participle of dēfendere to _defend

Example Sentences

They realised Carpenter had the better of City captain Alex Greenwood with her pace and was causing the visiting defence problems.

From BBC

The last 15 minutes it was all hands to the pump in defence and holding out for the point.

From BBC

"Our defence is pretty good and I'll have my wings chasing back and helping out, but when they break the line it's fight or flight."

From BBC

As well as cutting taxes, Reform's manifesto also said it would considerably increase spending, including on the NHS, defence, policing and prisons.

From BBC

Strikes have intensified in areas of Gaza City in recent weeks and dozens of Palestinians have been killed in attacks this week alone according to the Hamas-run health ministry and civil defence agency.

From BBC