self-defense
Use Self-defense in a sentence
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dɪˈfɛns, ˌsɛlf- noun
1.
the act of defending one's person when physically attacked, as by countering blows or overcoming an assailant: the art of self-defense.
2.
a claim or plea that the use of force or injuring or killing another was necessary in defending one's own person from physical attack: He shot the man who was trying to stab him and pleaded self-defense at the murder trial.
3.
an act or instance of defending or protecting one's own interests, property, ideas, etc., as by argument or strategy.
Also, especially British, self-de·fence.
Origin:
1645–55
1645–55
Related forms
self-de·fen·sive, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To self-defense
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
self-defense
1651, "act of defending oneself," first attested in Hobbes, from self + defense (q.v.). In sports sense, first with ref. to fencing (1728), then boxing (1820s).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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00:10
Self-defense
is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
Example sentences
Releasing the drug close to a cancer cell's nucleus appears to protect it from the cell's self-defense mechanism.
They tell themselves that what they did was not so bad, or that the guy deserved it, or that it was self-defense.
So a legitimate, imperative call to self-defense was distorted into an ignorant, messianic war.
He admitted his guilt but tried to claim it was self-defense.
Nearby Words
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