defense

See also: défense

English

Alternative forms

• defence (British)

Etymology

From French défense, itself from Late Latin dēfensa (“protection”). Displaced native Old English bewering.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /dɪˈfɛns/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (sports): (US, often) IPA^(key): /ˈdiːˌfɛns/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛns

Noun

defense (countable and uncountable, plural defenses) (American spelling)

1. The action of defending or protecting from attack, danger, or injury.
2. Anything employed to oppose attack(s).
   1. (team sports) A strategy and tactics employed to prevent the other team from scoring; contrasted with offense.
   2. (team sports) The portion of a team dedicated to preventing the other team from scoring; contrasted with offense.
3. An argument in support or justification of something.

   to come to someone's defense

   1. (law, by extension) The case presented by the defendant in a legal proceeding.
   2. (law, by extension) The lawyer or team thereof who presents such a case.
4. (government, military, euphemistic) Government policy or (infra)structure related to the military.

   Department of Defense

5. (obsolete) A prohibition; a prohibitory ordinance.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:defense

Antonyms

• offense
• (law) prosecution

Derived terms

• affirmative defense
• antidefense
• anti-slut defense
• attack is the best form of defense
• chemical defense
• Chewbacca defense
• civil defense
• defense attorney
• defense in abatement
• defense-independent pitching statistics
• defense in depth
• defense lawyer
• defenseless
• defense mechanism
• defense wound
• defensive
• defensiveness
• ecodefense
• eco-defense
• gay panic defense
• homosexual panic defense
• man-to-man defense
• Matrix defense
• Nuremberg defense
• orbital defense platform
• Pac-Man defense
• passive defense
• personal defense weapon
• prevent defense
• self-defense
• self-defense wound
• Shaggy defense
• space defense
• special defense
• the best defense is a good offense
• thesis defense
• tower defense
• trans panic defense
• zone defense

 

Translations

action of protecting from attack

• Afrikaans: verdediging
• Albanian: mbrojtje (sq) f
• Arabic: دِفَاع (ar) m (difāʕ), حِمَايَة f (ḥimāya), مُحَافَظَة (ar) f (muḥāfaẓa), مُدَافَعَة f (mudāfaʕa)
• Armenian: պաշտպանություն (hy) (paštpanutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: müdafiə (az)
• Belarusian: абаро́на f (abaróna), ахо́ва (be) f (axóva)
• Bengali: রক্ষা (bn) (rokkha), প্রতিরক্ষা (bn) (protirokkha)
• Bulgarian: защи́та (bg) f (zaštíta), отбра́на (bg) f (otbrána)
• Burmese: ကာကွယ်ရေး (my) (ka-kwaire:)
• Catalan: defensa (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 防禦／防御 (fong⁴ jyu⁶)

  Hokkien: 防禦／防御 (zh-min-nan) (hông-gū)

  Mandarin: 防禦／防御 (zh) (fángyù)

• Czech: obrana (cs) f
• Danish: forsvar n
• Dutch: verdediging (nl) f, weer (nl) f
• Esperanto: defendo
• Estonian: kaitse
• Faroese: verja
• Finnish: puolustautuminen, puolustus (fi)
• French: défense (fr) f
• Georgian: თავდაცვა (tavdacva), მოგერიება (mogerieba)
• German: Verteidigung (de) f, Wehr (de) f
• Greek: άμυνα (el) f (ámyna)
• Hebrew: הֲגָנָה \ הֲגַנָּה (he) f (hagana) (action of protecting someone)
• Hindi: बचाव (hi) m (bacāv), रक्षा (hi) f (rakṣā)
• Hungarian: védelem (hu), védekezés (hu), védés (hu)
• Icelandic: vörn f
• Ido: defenso (io)
• Indonesian: pertahanan (id)
• Irish: cosaint f
• Italian: difesa (it) f
• Japanese: 防御 (ja) (ぼうぎょ, bōgyo), 防禦 (ja) (ぼうぎょ, bōgyo)
• Kazakh: қорғаныс (qorğanys), қорғану (qorğanu)
• Khmer: ការពារ (km) (kaa piə)
• Korean: 방어(防禦) (ko) (bang'eo)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: بەرگْری (bergirî)

• Kyrgyz: коргонуу (ky) (korgonuu), коргоо (ky) (korgoo)
• Lao: ການຫ້າມປາມ (kān hām pām)
• Latvian: aizsardzība f
• Lithuanian: gynyba f
• Macedonian: одбрана f (odbrana)
• Malay: pertahanan (ms)
• Maori: waonga
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: сэргийлэл (mn) (sergiilel)

• Norman: d'fense f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forsvar n

  Nynorsk: forsvar n

• Occitan: defensa (oc) f
• Old English: bewering f
• Pashto: دفاع (ps) (defā')
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: دِفاع (fa) (defâ'), پَدافَنْد (fa), حِمایَت (fa) (hemâyat), مُحافَظَت (fa) (mohâfazat), مُدافِعِه (fa)

• Polish: obrona (pl) f
• Portuguese: defesa (pt) f
• Quechua: amachay
• Romanian: apărare (ro) f
• Russian: оборо́на (ru) f (oboróna), защи́та (ru) f (zaščíta)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: о̏дбрана f, о̏брана f

  Roman: ȍdbrana (sh) f, ȍbrana (sh) f

• Sinhalese: ආරක්ෂක (ārakṣaka)
• Slovak: obrana f
• Slovene: obramba (sl) f
• Spanish: defensa (es) f
• Swedish: försvar (sv) n
• Tagalog: depensa
• Tajik: дифоъ (difoʾ), мудофиа (mudofia), ҳимоя (himoya), муҳофиза (muhofiza), муҳофизат (tg) (muhofizat)
• Thai: การป้องกัน (th) (gaan-bpɔ̂ng-gan)
• Turkish: savunma (tr), koruma (tr)
• Ukrainian: оборо́на (uk) f (oboróna), за́хист (uk) m (záxyst)
• Urdu: دِفاع m (difā'), حِمایَت (ur) f (himāyat), رَکْشا f (rakśā), مُدافَعَت f (mudāfa'at)
• Uyghur: ھىمايە (himaye), مۇداپىئە (mudapi'e)
• Uzbek: himoya (uz), mudofaa (uz)
• Vietnamese: cái để bảo vệ, sự phòng thủ (vi), sự phòng ngự (vi)
• Yiddish: פֿאַרטיידיקונג f (farteydikung)

anything employed to oppose attack

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: պաշտպանություն (hy) (paštpanutʻyun)
• Bulgarian: отбра́на (bg) f (otbrána), отбрани́телни съоръже́ния pl (otbranítelni sǎorǎžénija)
• Catalan: defensa (ca) f, protecció (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 防禦物／防御物 (fángyùwù)

• Czech: obrana (cs) f
• Danish: forsvar n
• Dutch: verdediging (nl) f, verweer (nl) n
• Faroese: verja
• Finnish: puolustus (fi)
• French: défense (fr) f (often plural)
• Georgian: თავდაცვა (tavdacva)
• German: Verteidigung (de) f
• Greek: άμυνα (el) f (ámyna)
• Hebrew: הגנה (he) f (hagana)
• Hungarian: védelem (hu)
• Italian: difesa (it) f (often plural)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: بەرگری (bergrî)

• Latin: mūnīmen n, mūnīmentum n, dēfēnsa f
• Macedonian: одбрана f (odbrana)
• Maori: whakarurunga
• Old English: bewering f
• Polish: obrona (pl) f
• Portuguese: defesa (pt) f, escudo (pt) m
• Romanian: apărare (ro) f
• Russian: защи́та (ru) f (zaščíta), оборо́на (ru) f (oboróna), оборони́тельные сооруже́ния n pl (oboronítelʹnyje sooružénija)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: о̏дбрана f, о̏брана f

  Roman: ȍdbrana (sh) f, ȍbrana (sh) f

• Spanish: defensa (es) f
• Swedish: försvar (sv) n

team sports: strategy and tactics

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: պաշտպանություն (hy) (paštpanutʻyun)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: obrana (cs) f
• Finnish: puolustus (fi)
• Hungarian: védelem (hu), védekezés (hu)
• Portuguese: retranca (pt) f
• Romanian: apărare (ro) f
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

team sports: portion of a team

• Arabic: دِفاع (ar) m (difāʕ)
• Armenian: պաշտպանություն (hy) (paštpanutʻyun)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 防守 (zh) (fángshǒu)

• Czech: obrana (cs) f
• Finnish: puolustus (fi)
• Hungarian: védelem (hu)
• Romanian: apărare (ro) f
• Russian: оборо́на (ru) f (oboróna)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

argument in support or justification of something

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: obrana (cs) f
• Dutch: verweer (nl) n
• Finnish: puolustus (fi), puolustelu (fi)
• Gothic: 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌾𐍉𐌽𐍃 f (sunjōns)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἀπολογία f (apología)

• Hungarian: védés (hu), védekezés (hu), védelem (hu)
• Italian: difesa (it) f
• Macedonian: одбрана f (odbrana)
• Polish: obrona (pl) f
• Portuguese: defesa (pt) f
• Romanian: apărare (ro) f
• Russian: защи́та (ru) f (zaščíta)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: о̏дбрана f, о̏брана f

  Roman: ȍdbrana (sh) f, ȍbrana (sh) f

• Spanish: descargo (es)
• Swedish: försvar (sv) n
• Urdu: صَفائی f (safāī)

government policy or structure

• Arabic: دِفاع (ar) m (difāʕ)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: obrana (cs) f
• Finnish: puolustus (fi), maanpuolustus (fi)
• Georgian: თავდაცვა (tavdacva), თავდაცვის სამინისტრო (tavdacvis saminisṭro)
• Malayalam: പ്രതിരോധം (ml) (pratirōdhaṁ)
• Old English: utwaru f, wiþermal n
• Romanian: apărare (ro) f
• Russian: оборо́на (ru) f (oboróna)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

prohibitory ordinance

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: zákaz (cs) m
• Finnish: kielto (fi)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /deːˈfen.se/, [d̪eːˈfẽːs̠ɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /deˈfen.se/, [d̪eˈfɛnse]

Participle

dēfēnse

1. vocative masculine singular of dēfēnsus

Portuguese

Verb

defense

1. inflection of defensar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /deˈfense/ [d̪eˈfẽn.se]
• Rhymes: -ense
• Syllabification: de‧fen‧se

Verb

defense

1. inflection of defensar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative