defence

American  

[dih-fens] / dɪˈfɛns /

noun

defenced, defencing

1. British. variant of defense.

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defence British  

/ dɪˈfɛns /

noun

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

2. a person or thing that provides such resistance

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

4. 1. a country's military measures or resources

   2. ( as modifier )

      defence spending

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

6. law the defendant and his legal advisers collectively Compare prosecution

7. sport

   1. the action of protecting oneself, one's goal, or one's allotted part of the playing area against an opponent's attacks

   2. the method of doing this

   3. the players in a team whose function is to do this

8. American football (usually preceded by the)

   1. the team that does not have possession of the ball

   2. the members of a team that play in such circumstances

9. psychoanal See defence mechanism

10. (plural) fortifications

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Other Word Forms

• defenceable adjective
• defenceless adjective
• defencelessly adverb
• defencelessness noun
• predefence noun

Etymology

Origin of defence

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

Compare meaning

How does defence compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• offence vs. defence

Example Sentences

Now he claims to have secured the "framework" of a future deal, to address defence on the island - a deal that he says includes rights to rare earth minerals.

From BBC

Seattle allowed the fewest points this season and led the league for third down defence.

From BBC

The country's first woman leader announced on Monday that she planned to dissolve the lower house, seeking public backing for measures to shield households from rising living costs and increase spending on defence.

From Barron's

But Kyiv says this winter has been the toughest yet, as hundreds of Russian drones and missiles have overwhelmed its air defences during a particularly cold spell.

From Barron's

The UK provided "tracking and monitoring" in support of the operation, defence minister John Healey said.

From Barron's