defence
Other words from defence
- de·fence·a·ble, adjective
- de·fence·less, adjective
- de·fence·less·ly, adverb
- de·fence·less·ness, noun
- pre·de·fence, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use defence in a sentence
The company was henceforth surrendered defencelessly to the machinations of Seor Pavo.
The Indian Chief | Gustave AimardAnd there was one who, delicately and unmistakably and defencelessly, showed me that I was not indifferent to her.
Recollections Of My Childhood And Youth | George BrandesLeon, my sister is perhaps at this time abandoned defencelessly to the insults of her cowardly ravisher.
The Smuggler Chief | Gustave AimardHe received them defencelessly right over his bare head, with both his hands engaged in holding.
Typhoon | Joseph ConradYet a nature that opened itself so trustingly, so defencelessly, must have suffered on finding its bounty abused.
British Dictionary definitions for defence
US defense
/ (dɪˈfɛns) /
resistance against danger, attack, or harm; protection
a person or thing that provides such resistance
a plea, essay, speech, etc, in support of something; vindication; justification
a country's military measures or resources
(as modifier): defence spending
law a defendant's denial of the truth of the allegations or charge against him
law the defendant and his legal advisers collectively: Compare prosecution
sport
the action of protecting oneself, one's goal, or one's allotted part of the playing area against an opponent's attacks
the method of doing this
the defence the players in a team whose function is to do this
American football (usually preceded by the)
the team that does not have possession of the ball
the members of a team that play in such circumstances
psychoanal See defence mechanism
(plural) fortifications
Origin of defence
1Derived forms of defence
- defenceless or US defenseless, adjective
- defencelessly or US defenselessly, adverb
- defencelessness or US defenselessness, noun
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
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