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

Explanation

This word does NOT mean taking down a fence; it is the British spelling of "defense" — a word that means the act of protecting or defending. Wearing garlic around your neck might be your defence against vampires. Defence can be verbal as well as physical. If you're in court charged with a crime, you (and your lawyer, if you have one) are called "the defence." If your only defence is that you were sleepwalking when you robbed a gas station, you might be going away for awhile. If you play defence in a team sport, your main job is to keep the other team from scoring (so stay wide awake).

Example Sentences

“Investors are positioning for a world where physical assets matter again: power, grids, data centres, defence, reshoring and electrification all need more energy and materials,” says analysts with eToro in a note.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026

"Some believe his defence of City's owners was misplaced, but it's hard to think that many employees would have acted differently if placed in the same position," says Jotischky.

From BBC • May 19, 2026

"Strategically, this will harden Abu Dhabi's view that passive defence is not enough," Krieg said.

From Barron's • May 18, 2026

In the words of captain Meg Jones, they had to "go to the trenches" during their title defence and "fronted up" to prove to their doubters wrong.

From BBC • May 17, 2026

These two disliked each other so much that it was difficult for them to come to any agreement, even in defence of their own interests.

From "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story" by George Orwell