defence
Americannoun
noun
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resistance against danger, attack, or harm; protection
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a person or thing that provides such resistance
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a plea, essay, speech, etc, in support of something; vindication; justification
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a country's military measures or resources
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( as modifier )
defence spending
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law a defendant's denial of the truth of the allegations or charge against him
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law the defendant and his legal advisers collectively Compare prosecution
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sport
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the action of protecting oneself, one's goal, or one's allotted part of the playing area against an opponent's attacks
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the method of doing this
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the players in a team whose function is to do this
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American football (usually preceded by the)
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the team that does not have possession of the ball
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the members of a team that play in such circumstances
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psychoanal See defence mechanism
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(plural) fortifications
Other Word Forms
- defenceable adjective
- defenceless adjective
- defencelessly adverb
- defencelessness noun
- predefence noun
Etymology
Origin of defence
C13: from Old French, from Late Latin dēfensum, past participle of dēfendere to defend
Compare meaning
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Now luxury hotels and shopping malls, high-rise apartment blocks, state-of-the-art airport departure terminals are getting sporadically hit as gaps appear in the Arab states' air defences in the Gulf.
From BBC
He posted two videos on Instagram saying he heard "some pretty loud bangs going off" as anti-missile defences were activated.
From BBC
"The general feeling is it's not going to last very long and that you are overall quite safe here with the defences and stuff that's in the UAE."
From BBC
The Belgian defence ministry said the seized tanker was on the European Union's sanctions list.
From Barron's
The defence secretary said the government was reviewing the terror threat level in the UK.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
