defence
Other words from defence
- de·fence·a·ble, adjective
- de·fence·less, adjective
- de·fence·less·ly, adverb
- de·fence·less·ness, noun
- pre·de·fence, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use defence in a sentence
The “find and operate” missions that followed were directed at the most vulnerable and defenceless individuals in the country.
I suppose you think it's brave to come back from the front and threaten a defenceless man with a revolver?
First Plays | A. A. MilneShould Gorton turn up he is just the one to frighten a defenceless woman, and purchase his own silence.
Elster's Folly | Mrs. Henry WoodThere was nothing to stay us three armed men in this place, with but three against us, and they well-nigh defenceless.
A Prince of Cornwall | Charles W. WhistlerNow is my time, thought I; he will be defenceless, and will fall an easy prey to me; and I prepared my roomal for work.
Confessions of a Thug | Philip Meadows Taylor
Yet I cannot fly out alone—a poor defenceless song-bird, amongst all the crows and hawks.
God Wills It! | William Stearns Davis
British Dictionary definitions for defence
US defense
/ (dɪˈfɛns) /
resistance against danger, attack, or harm; protection
a person or thing that provides such resistance
a plea, essay, speech, etc, in support of something; vindication; justification
a country's military measures or resources
(as modifier): defence spending
law a defendant's denial of the truth of the allegations or charge against him
law the defendant and his legal advisers collectively: Compare prosecution
sport
the action of protecting oneself, one's goal, or one's allotted part of the playing area against an opponent's attacks
the method of doing this
the defence the players in a team whose function is to do this
American football (usually preceded by the)
the team that does not have possession of the ball
the members of a team that play in such circumstances
psychoanal See defence mechanism
(plural) fortifications
Origin of defence
1Derived forms of defence
- defenceless or US defenseless, adjective
- defencelessly or US defenselessly, adverb
- defencelessness or US defenselessness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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