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

Example Sentences

"We don't expect private air defence to solve all our problems," he conceded.

From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026

Civil defence teams are now combing through buildings here and across the country, but there is little hope for people who still have loved ones missing.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026

For him, the future of private air defence lies in drone interceptors -- small unmanned aircraft designed to destroy incoming drones mid-air.

From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026

If he was slow to react, PSG would drop an attacker deep, who could then get on the ball, turn and drive at the defence, with space between him and an out-of-position Konate.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026

The affray was sharp, but the orcs were dismayed by the fierceness of the defence.

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien