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civil defense

American

noun

plans or activities organized by civilians and civilian authorities for the protection of civilian population and property in times of such disasters or emergencies as war or floods.

Etymology

Origin of civil defense

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

civil defense

South Korea has massively invested in civil defense.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026

"It rained a lot, the riverbank collapsed even further, and civil defense called us to evacuate," Luiz Otavio Souza, a 35-year-old salesman who had to leave his home and whose nephew is missing, told AFP.

From Barron's ● Feb. 26, 2026

"It requires surveys to discover and track NEOs, campaigns to characterize those that are hazardous, modeling efforts to understand and predict impact effects and associated consequences, and mitigation through impact avoidance and/or civil defense."

From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2025

The Eisenhower administration, busy building a civil defense network in the middle of the Cold War, worked with Congress to pass new disaster relief laws.

From Salon ● Jan. 26, 2025

A civil defense official in Las Vegas, Nevada, recommended the formation of a five-thousand-man militia—not to fight Russians, but to beat back Californians who might arrive once the bombs began to fall.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023