Wiktionary

defense

See also: défense

English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From French défense, itself from Late Latin dēfensa (“protection”). Displaced native Old English bewering.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

defense (countable and uncountable, plural defenses) (American spelling)

  1. The action of defending or protecting from attack, danger, or injury.
  2. Anything employed to oppose attack(s).
    1. (team sports) A strategy and tactics employed to prevent the other team from scoring; contrasted with offense.
    2. (team sports) The portion of a team dedicated to preventing the other team from scoring; contrasted with offense.
  3. An argument in support or justification of something.
    to come to someone's defense
    1. (law, by extension) The case presented by the defendant in a legal proceeding.
    2. (law, by extension) The lawyer or team thereof who presents such a case.
  4. (government, military, euphemistic) Government policy or (infra)structure related to the military.
    Department of Defense
  5. (obsolete) A prohibition; a prohibitory ordinance.

Synonyms edit

Antonyms edit

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

Latin edit

Pronunciation edit

Participle edit

dēfēnse

  1. vocative masculine singular of dēfēnsus

Portuguese edit

Verb edit

defense

  1. inflection of defensar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /deˈfense/ [d̪eˈfẽn.se]
  • Rhymes: -ense
  • Syllabification: de‧fen‧se

Verb edit

defense

  1. inflection of defensar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative
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