public defender

noun

1. a lawyer appointed or elected by a city or county as a full-time, official defender to represent indigents in criminal cases at public expense.

public defender

noun

1. (in the US) a lawyer engaged at public expense to represent indigent defendants

public defender

1. An attorney who is appointed and paid by a court to defend poor persons who cannot afford a lawyer.

Word History and Origins

Origin of public defender¹

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

Indigent defendants, who do not have the financial resources to pay their own legal fees, can rely on public defenders paid for by the government.

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A federal public defender representing Rinderknecht didn’t respond to a request for comment.

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On Wednesday morning, Rinderknecht briefly appeared in an Orlando federal courtroom where he was appointed a federal public defender.

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In a filing Friday, the federal public defender’s office in Los Angeles argued acting U.S.

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An early adulthood steeped in Latino activism led to a career in law, first as a federal public defender and later a Los Angeles County judge.

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