defense

• defence (British)

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

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

• Audio (US)

  (file)

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

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛns

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.

• See also Thesaurus:defense

• offense
• (law) prosecution

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

dēfēnse

1. vocative masculine singular of dēfēnsus

defense

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

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

defense

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