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

Derived Forms

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

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

An investigation into the crash is being conducted by the Defence Accident Investigation Branch.

From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026

Defence Minister Pal Jonson said that the countries had signed a declaration of intent.

From Barron's • Jun. 4, 2026

A spokesman for the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency said the dead included two children with disabilities from the Labad family and three women.

From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026

The death was announced by the Defence Secretary John Healey in the House of Commons on Monday.

From BBC • Jun. 1, 2026

All his major published works on political philosophy, including his Defence of the Constitution of the United States of America and Discourses on Davila, along with his unpublished autobiography, lacked coherent form.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis