Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To make or keep safe from danger, attack, or harm.
- intransitive verb To engage in or be prepared to engage in battle to prevent (a population or area, for example) from being captured or occupied by an enemy.
- intransitive verb To attempt to prevent the opposition from scoring while playing in or near (a goal or area of a field, for example).
- intransitive verb To be responsible for guarding (an opposing player).
- intransitive verb To compete against a challenger in an attempt to retain (a championship).
- intransitive verb To support or maintain, as by argument or action; justify.
- intransitive verb To represent (a defendant) in a civil or criminal action.
- intransitive verb To attempt to disprove or invalidate (the claim made by a lawsuit or prosecution).
- intransitive verb To make a defense.
- intransitive verb Sports To play defense.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To drive off or away; thrust back; fend or ward off; repel.
- To forbid; prohibit; forefend.
- To ward off attack from; guard against assault or injury; shield: as, to
defend a fortress. - To vindicate; uphold; maintain by force, argument, or evidence: as, to
defend one's rights and privileges; to defend a cause or claim at law. - Synonyms Protect, Shelter, etc. (see
keep ), guard, shield. Maintain, Vindicate, etc. Seeassert . - In law, to make opposition; enter or make defense: as, the party comes into court, defends, and says.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb A Latinism & Obs. To ward or fend off; to drive back or away; to repel.
- transitive verb obsolete To prohibit; to forbid.
- transitive verb To repel danger or harm from; to protect; to secure against attack; to maintain against force or argument; to uphold; to guard; ; -- sometimes followed by
from oragainst . - transitive verb (Law.) To deny the right of the plaintiff in regard to (the suit, or the wrong charged); to oppose or resist, as a claim at law; to contest, as a suit.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive, obsolete To
ward off ,repel (an attack or attacker). - verb transitive, obsolete To
prevent , tokeep (from doing something). - verb transitive, intransitive, obsolete To
prohibit ,forbid . - verb transitive To
ward off attacks from; to fight to protect; toguard . - verb transitive To
support by words or writing; tovindicate , talk in favour of. - verb transitive, law To make legal defence of; to
represent (the accused). - verb sports To focus one's energies and talents on
preventing opponents from scoring, as opposed to focusing on scoring. - verb sports To attempt to retain a title, or attempt to reach the same stage in a competition as one did in the previous edition of that competition.
- verb poker slang To
call araise from thebig blind .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb protect or fight for as a champion
- verb be the defense counsel for someone in a trial
- verb protect against a challenge or attack
- verb argue or speak in defense of
- verb fight against or resist strongly
- verb be on the defensive; act against an attack
- verb state or assert
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word defend.
Examples
-
Though Bush publicly denounced the leak, an unnamed Republican aide on Capitol Hill told the New York Times that the underlying White House strategy was to slime and defend, that is to slime Wilson and defend Bush.
-
I'm of the attitude having an opinion you aren't willing to test and defend is all but worthless.
Amazing Thread v.2.0 2009
-
DIFFICULT TO DEFEND: The hardest offensive player to defend is the one who is moving.
-
It is great to see these well kept stiff-armed beauties in actions and it makes me nostalgic to my days of building cardboard bases for my Rebels to defend from the evil Empire.
Star Wars Action Figures Doing What They Do Best - The Retroist 2009
-
Furthermore, the most difficult offensive maneuver to defend is the screen.
-
When an American takes lawful action to defend from the crime perpetrated by the intellectual property rights owner, the intellectual property rights owner can use intellectual property laws to sue people for interfering with property rights when they try and stop a theft.
-
Jeffy Bovine might be still lurking around, or will come tomorrow with yet another moniker to again defend some teabagging domestic terrorist like himself.
-
And the only way your sheep can defend is to once again say "but Bush did it" and offer no proof.
Reliable Sources: Journos spar over Obama presser question 2009
-
Israel, and every country in the world, has a right to defend is borders.
-
The only premise I have to defend is that the policies were somehow connected to helping the country.
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.