civil defense

American  

noun

1. 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

See Examples For:

civil defense

“We’ll be here till tomorrow dealing with this blaze,” said Major Issa Hamdoun, a civil defense commander, as he watched his men manhandling the fire hose into the wreckage of the building.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2026

Lebanese civil defense said strikes hit half a dozen sites in the heart of Beirut—upscale neighborhoods and tourist areas outside of Hezbollah’s traditional Shia Muslim strongholds in the southern suburbs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 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

As if striving to say something even less helpful, New York’s top civil defense official said, “As far as shelters for the majority of our citizens is concerned—of course, we don’t have any.”

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