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

• defencelessness
  noun
• predefence
  noun
• defenceable
  adjective
• defenceless
  adjective
• 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

See Examples For:

defence defenced defencing

When this happens, space opens up in front of the defence, for late-arriving midfielders or clever strikers that drop back.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

Macron added that the government had been tasked with protecting critical infrastructure and the "most sensitive" defence industry and technology sites against drone and cyberattacks.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

In a news conference at the Elysee Palace, Macron said he had called on the French government to prepare a plan to protect critical infrastructure and defence industry sites in the face of this threat.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

Macron said he had ordered "the government to prepare a plan to protect our critical infrastructure" and the "most sensitive" defence industry and technology sites against drone and cyberattacks.

From Barron's

Sir Mador decided to save himself the expense of a champion by fighting his own case, and he insisted that Guenever must brief a champion for her defence.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

That the weather being calm, he rowed round me several times, observed my windows and wire-lattices that defenced them.

From Gulliver's Travels Into Several Remote Regions of the World by Thomas M. Balliet

Meanwhile Ralegh's fleet had arrived at Gomera, "one of the strongest and best defenced places of all the islands, and the best port; the town being seated upon the very wash of the sea."

From Great Ralegh by Hugh de Selincourt

Crichton Castle was much more a defenced château and less a feudal stronghold than Thrieve.

From The Black Douglas by Frank Richards

And the town of Plassenburg under Karl the Prince is a defenced city, set in a strong province, content and united.

From Red Axe by S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett

My life is twisted in a Thread with thine; Were't not defenced, there could nothing come To make this cheeke looke pale, which at your Eye Will not fall dead before you.—

From A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 2 by A. H. (Arthur Henry) Bullen

"Father Marcelo has been a symbol of resistance and support in Chiapas, defencing the dignity, the rights of the people, and the construction of an authentic peace," the Jesuit Order said.

From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2024

Then there was fencing and defencing, for nothing could stand against the King's persistent rancor, and Cecil's dissimulation.

From Thomas Hariot, the Mathematician, the Philosopher and the Scholar by Henry Stevens