English

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English defens, defense, from Old French defens, defense, from Late Latin dēfēnsa (protection). Displaced Old English bewering.

Noun

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defence (countable and uncountable, plural defences) (British spelling)

  1. The action of defending, of protecting from attack, danger or injury.
  2. Something used to oppose attacks.
    • 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 12”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. [], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:
      And nothing ’gainst Time’s scythe can make defence
      Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.
    • 2021 July 28, Louise Grimmer, Gary Mortimer, Martin Grimmer, “Vaccine selfies may seem trivial, but they show people doing their civic duty — and probably encourage others too”, in The Conversation[1]:
      As governments and health officials continue to flip-flop on vaccine age requirements, and anti-vaxxers spread falsehoods through social media and protests, the vaxxie might just be a powerful line of defence against vaccine hesitancy.
  3. An argument in support or justification of something.
  4. (team sports) A strategy and tactics employed to prevent the other team from scoring; contrasted with offence.
  5. (team sports) The portion of a team dedicated to preventing the other team from scoring; contrasted with offence.
  6. Government policy or (infra)structure related to the military.
    Department of Defence
  7. (obsolete) Prohibition; a prohibitory ordinance.
    • 1673, William Temple, “An Essay upon the Advancement of Trade in Ireland” in Miscellanea, London: Edw[ard] Gellibrand, 1680, p. 116,[3]
      [] severe defences may be made against weaving any Linnen under a certain breadth, such as may be of better use to the poorest People []
Usage notes
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  • The noun spelling is mainly used in the UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand; defense is more commonly used in the US.
Synonyms
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Antonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From Middle English defencen, defensen, from Old French defenser[1] or its etymon, Latin dēfēnsō.[2]

Verb

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defence (third-person singular simple present defences, present participle defencing, simple past and past participle defenced)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To furnish with defences; to fortify.
    • 1656, John Hales, Dixi Custodiam:
      Better manned and more strongly defenced.

References

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  1. ^ dēfensen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ defence | defense, v.”, in OED Online  , Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.