defence

[ dih-fens ]

noun, verb (used with object),de·fenced, de·fenc·ing.
  1. British. variant of defense.

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.

    Hold Onto Your Penis | David Frum, Justin Green | November 29, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • 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. Milne
  • Should Gorton turn up he is just the one to frighten a defenceless woman, and purchase his own silence.

    Elster's Folly | Mrs. Henry Wood
  • There 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. Whistler
  • Now 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

defence

US defense

/ (dɪˈfɛns) /


noun
  1. resistance against danger, attack, or harm; protection

  2. a person or thing that provides such resistance

  1. a plea, essay, speech, etc, in support of something; vindication; justification

    • a country's military measures or resources

    • (as modifier): defence spending

  2. law a defendant's denial of the truth of the allegations or charge against him

  3. law the defendant and his legal advisers collectively: Compare prosecution

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. psychoanal See defence mechanism

  7. (plural) fortifications

Origin of defence

1
C13: from Old French, from Late Latin dēfensum, past participle of dēfendere to defend

Derived 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