51Թ

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defence

[ dih-fens ]

noun

defenced, defencing.
  1. British. variant of defense.


defence

/ ɪˈɛԲ /

noun

  1. resistance against danger, attack, or harm; protection
  2. a person or thing that provides such resistance
  3. a plea, essay, speech, etc, in support of something; vindication; justification
    1. a country's military measures or resources
    2. ( as modifier )

      defence spending

  4. law a defendant's denial of the truth of the allegations or charge against him
  5. law the defendant and his legal advisers collectively Compare prosecution
  6. sport
    1. the action of protecting oneself, one's goal, or one's allotted part of the playing area against an opponent's attacks
    2. the method of doing this
    3. the players in a team whose function is to do this
  7. American football usually preceded by the
    1. the team that does not have possession of the ball
    2. the members of a team that play in such circumstances
  8. psychoanal See defence mechanism
  9. plural fortifications
“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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Derived Forms

  • ˈڱԳ, adverb
  • ˈڱԳ, adjective
  • ˈڱԳness, noun
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Other 51Թ Forms

  • ·ڱԳa· adjective
  • ·ڱԳl adjective
  • ·ڱԳl·ly adverb
  • ·ڱԳl·ness noun
  • d·ڱԳ noun
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of defence1

C13: from Old French, from Late Latin ŧڱԲܳ, past participle of ŧڱԻ to defend
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Compare Meanings

How does defence compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Tate has denied the claims in a written defence submitted to the High Court, calling them a "pack of lies" and "gross fabrications".

From

"In the first leg PSG were hoping to draw them out of defence and almost give them false hope by leaving spaces for them to attack into," Warnock told BBC Sport.

From

The trio have 82 goals between them this season and have put the fear into defences.

From

He appealed for air defences, tanks, rockets and fighter jets, with nations such as Germany hesitating over fears of the war escalating, before yielding to his requests.

From

McCourt did not give evidence during the trial but his defence argued that the prosecution's case was based on circumstantial evidence and that there were too many gaps in it that did not prove guilt.

From

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