defense (n.)

  1. (military) military action or resources protecting a country against potential enemies; they died in the defense of Stalingrad; they were developed for the defense program

    [ Syn: defence , defensive measure ]

  2. a structure used to defend against attack; the artillery battered down the defenses

    [ Syn: defensive structure , defence ]

  3. a defendants answer or plea denying the truth of the charges against him; he gave evidence for the defense

    [ Syn: defence , denial , demurrer ]

  4. the act of defending someone or something against attack or injury; a good boxer needs a good defense; defense against hurricanes is an urgent problem

    [ Syn: defence ]

  5. protection from harm; sanitation is the best defense against disease

    [ Syn: defence ]

  6. (sports) the team that is trying to prevent the other team from scoring; his teams are always good on defense

    [ Syn: defence , defence , defending team , defending team ]

  7. the justification for some act or belief; he offered a persuasive defense of the theory

    [ Syn: defence , vindication ]

  8. (psychiatry) an unconscious process that tries to reduce the anxiety associated with instinctive desires

    [ Syn: defense mechanism , defense mechanism , defense reaction , defense reaction , defence mechanism , defence mechanism , defence reaction , defence reaction , defence , defence ]

  9. the federal department responsible for safeguarding national security of the United States; created in 1947

    [ Syn: department of defense , defense department , united states department of defense , defense , dod ]

  10. the defendant and his legal advisors collectively; the defense called for a mistrial

    [ Syn: defence , defense team , defense lawyers ]

  11. the speech act of answering an attack on your assertions; his refutation of the charges was short and persuasive; in defense he said the other man started it

    [ Syn: refutation , defence ]

  12. an organization of defenders that provides resistance against attack; he joined the defense against invasion

    [ Syn: defence , defense force , defence force ]

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2011 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.