26984 words

defenses

6 definitions • 4 examples
1
US spelling of
2
the ability to protect against attack or harm, or something used to protect against attack or harm:

Examples:

[ C ] The vaccine strengthens the body’s defenses against infection.
3
A defense is also an argument in support of something, esp. when it has been criticized:

Examples:

[ U ] Her defense consisted of denying that she knew anything about the missing check.
4
law The defense is the person or people in a court who have been accused of doing something wrong, and their lawyer:

Examples:

[ U ] The defense rests (= This side has finished giving its argument).
5
(in sports) the ability to prevent the opposition from scoring points in a competition, or, esp. in football, the team without the ball that is trying to prevent its opposition from scoring points:

Examples:

The team has pretty good scoring ability, but it’s weak on defense.
6
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