self-defence

noun

the act of defending oneself, one's actions, ideas, etc

boxing as a means of defending the person (esp in the phrase noble art of self-defence)

law the right to defend one's person, family, or property against attack or threat of attack by the use of no more force than is reasonable

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having or claiming to have the power of seeing objects or actions beyond the range of natural vision.

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Derived forms of self-defence

self-defensive, adjective

Words nearby self-defence

self-dealing, self-deceived, self-deceiving, self-deception, self-defeating, self-defence, self-defense, self-deliverance, self-delusion, self-denial, self-deprecating

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example sentences from the Web for self-defence

He consents, for example, to desist from self-defence, that he and all may be more effectually defended by the public force.
Slavery|William E. Channing
Marmont ordered that there should be no more firing, except in self-defence, and tried in vain to make truce with the rebels.
Liberty In The Nineteenth Century|Frederic May Holland
“I have had some reason,” Lucy said, with a terrible eagerness of self-defence.
The Shoulders of Atlas|Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
I was dreadfully agitated, and supposing that my death was immediately to follow, instinctively seized my musket in self-defence.
The Adventures of the Chevalier De La Salle and His Companions, in Their Explorations of the Prairies, Forests, Lakes, and Rivers, of the New World, and Their Interviews with the Savage Tribes, Two Hundred Years Ago|John S. C. Abbott

It had been to her what its sting is to the bee—a thing which if once used in self-defence is self-destructive.
Mistress Wilding|Rafael Sabatini

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