defense

See also défense

English

Alternative forms

• defence (Commonwealth)

Etymology

From the French défense, itself from Latin defensa, "protection".

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /dɪˈfɛns/
• (US) IPA: /diˈfɛns/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (sports): (US, often) IPA: /ˈdi fɛns/

• Rhymes: -ɛns

Noun

defense (plural defenses) (US)

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.
4. Government policy or structure related to the military.

   Department of Defense

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:defense

Antonyms

• offense

Derived terms

• antidefense
• ecodefense
• Nuremberg defense
• defensive
• defensiveness

Translations

action of protecting from attack

• Bulgarian: защита (bg) (zaštita), отбрана (bg) (otbrana)
• Catalan: defensa (ca) f
• Chinese: 防御 (fángyù)
• Czech: obrana (cs) f
• Danish: forsvar
• Dutch: verdediging (nl) f, weer (nl) f
• Esperanto: defendo (eo)
• Faroese: verja (fo)
• Finnish: puolustautuminen, puolustus (fi)
• French: défense (fr) f
• German: Verteidigung (de) f
• Greek: άμυνα (el) (ámyna) f (ámyna)
• Hebrew: הגנה (hagana) f (action of protecting someone); התגוננות (hitgonenut) f (action of protecting oneself)
• Hungarian: védelem (hu)

• Irish: cosaint (ga) f
• Italian: difesa (it) f
• Japanese: 防御, 防禦 (ぼうぎょ, bōgyo)
• Jèrriais: d'fense f
• Korean: 방어 (bang-eo)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: به‌رگری

• Norwegian: forsvar
• Persian: دفاع (fa)
• Polish: obrona (pl) f
• Portuguese: defesa (pt) f
• Russian: защита (ru) (zaščíta) f, оборона (ru) (oboróna) f
• Serbo-Croatian: ȍbrana (sh) f
• Spanish: defensa (es) f

anything employed to oppose attack

• Bulgarian: отбрана, отбранителни съоръжени
• Czech: obrana (cs) f
• Danish: forsvar
• Dutch: verdediging (nl) f, verweer (nl) n
• Faroese: verja (fo)
• Finnish: puolustus (fi)
• German: Verteidigung (de) f
• Greek: άμυνα (el) (ámyna) f (ámyna)

• Hebrew: הגנה (hagana) f
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: به‌رگری

• Polish: obrona (pl) f
• Portuguese: defesa (pt) f, escudo (pt) m
• Russian: защита (ru) (zaščíta) f, оборона (ru) (oboróna) f
• Serbo-Croatian: ȍbrana (sh) f
• Spanish: defensa (es) f

argument in support or justification of something

• Dutch: verweer (nl) n
• Finnish: puolustus (fi), puolustelu (fi)
• Italian: difesa (it) f
• Polish: obrona (pl) f

• Portuguese: defesa (pt) f
• Russian: защита (ru) (zaščíta) f
• Serbo-Croatian: ȍbrana (sh) f

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Latin

Participle

dēfense

1. vocative masculine singular of dēfensus