public defender

American  

noun

public defenders plural

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.

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public defender British  

noun

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

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public defender Cultural  

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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• public defenders
  plural

Etymology

Origin of public defender

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

public defender

According to court records, Wiley has been appointed a public defender.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026

Tapp remained a strong public defender of Sir Keir until he set out his resignation plans on Monday.

From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026

His U.S. public defender didn’t respond to requests for comment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026

In court filings, his deputy federal public defender, Margaret Farrand, wrote that her client said he’d been left in the Mexican city of Tapachula with no money and no food.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026

My public defender means well, but there's no way I'm going to testify in an outfit designed by Liz Claiborne.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris