defense

See also: défense

English

Alternative forms

• defence (British)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US)

  (file)

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

Noun

defense (countable and uncountable, plural defenses) (American spelling)

1. US standard spelling of defence.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:defense

Antonyms

• offense
• (law) prosecution

Derived terms

• affirmative defense
• antidefense
• attack is the best form of defense
• chemical defense
• Chewbacca defense
• civil defense
• defense attorney
• defense in abatement
• defense-independent pitching statistics
• defense in depth
• defense lawyer
• defenseless
• defense mechanism
• defense wound
• defensive
• defensiveness
• ecodefense
• eco-defense
• gay panic defense
• homosexual panic defense
• man-to-man defense
• Matrix defense
• Nuremberg defense
• orbital defense platform
• Pac-Man defense
• passive defense
• personal defense weapon
• prevent defense
• self-defense
• self-defense wound
• Shaggy defense
• space defense
• special defense
• the best defense is a good offense
• thesis defense
• tower defense
• zone defense

 

Translations

action of protecting from attack

• Afrikaans: verdediging
• Albanian: mbrojtje (sq) f
• Arabic: دِفَاع‎ (ar) m (difāʕ), حِمَايَة‎ f (ḥimāya), مُحَافَظَة‎ (ar) f (muḥāfaẓa)
• Armenian: պաշտպանություն (hy) (paštpanutʿyun)
• Azerbaijani: müdafiə (az)
• Belarusian: абаро́на f (abaróna), ахо́ва (be) f (axóva)
• Bengali: রক্ষা (rokkha), প্রতিরক্ষা (protirokkha)
• Bulgarian: защи́та (bg) f (zaštíta), отбра́на (bg) f (otbrána)
• Burmese: ကာကွယ်ရေး (my) (ka-kwaire:)
• Catalan: defensa (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 防禦／防御 (zh) (fángyù)

• Czech: obrana (cs) f
• Danish: forsvar
• Dutch: verdediging (nl) f, weer (nl) f
• Esperanto: defendo
• Estonian: kaitse
• Faroese: verja
• Finnish: puolustautuminen, puolustus (fi)
• French: défense (fr) f
• Georgian: თავდაცვა (tavdacva), მოგერიება (mogerieba)
• German: Verteidigung (de) f, Wehr (de) f
• Greek: άμυνα (el) f (ámyna)
• Hebrew: הֲגָנָה \ הֲגַנָּה‎ (he) f (hagana) (action of protecting someone), התגוננות‎ f (hitgonenut) (action of protecting oneself)
• Hindi: बचाव (hi) (bacāv), रक्षा (hi) f (rakṣā)
• Hungarian: védelem (hu), védekezés (hu), védés
• Icelandic: vörn f
• Ido: defenso (io)
• Indonesian: pertahanan (id)
• Irish: cosaint f
• Italian: difesa (it) f
• Japanese: 防御 (ja) (ぼうぎょ, bōgyo), 防禦 (ja) (ぼうぎょ, bōgyo)
• Kazakh: қорғаныс (qorğanys), қорғану (qorğanu)
• Khmer: ការពារ (km) (kaa piə),
• Korean: 방어(防禦) (ko) (bang'eo)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: بەرگْری‎ (ckb) (bergirî)

• Kyrgyz: коргонуу (ky) (korgonuu), коргоо (ky) (korgoo)
• Lao: ການຫ້າມປາມ (kān hām pām)
• Latvian: aizsardzība f
• Lithuanian: gynyba f
• Macedonian: одбрана f (odbrana)
• Malay: pertahanan
• Maori: waonga
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: сэргийлэл (mn) (sergiilel)

• Norman: d'fense f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forsvar n

  Nynorsk: forsvar n

• Occitan: defensa (oc) f
• Old English: bewering f
• Pashto: دفاع‎ (ps) (defā')
• Persian: دفاع‎ (fa) (defâ'), پدافند‎ (fa) (padâfand), حمایت‎ (fa) (hemâyat), محافظت‎ (fa) (mohâfazat)
• Polish: obrona (pl) f
• Portuguese: defesa (pt) f
• Quechua: amachay
• Romanian: apărare (ro) f
• Russian: оборо́на (ru) f (oboróna), защи́та (ru) f (zaščíta)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: о̏дбрана f, о̏брана f

  Roman: ȍdbrana (sh) f, ȍbrana (sh) f

• Sinhalese: ආරක්ෂක (ārakṣaka)
• Slovak: obrana f
• Slovene: obramba (sl) f
• Spanish: defensa (es) f
• Swedish: försvar (sv) n
• Tajik: дифоъ (difoʾ), мудофиа (mudofia), ҳимоя (himoya), муҳофиза (muhofiza), муҳофизат (tg) (muhofizat)
• Thai: การป้องกัน (th) (gaan-bpɔ̂ng-gan)
• Turkish: savunma (tr), koruma (tr)
• Ukrainian: оборо́на (uk) f (oboróna), за́хист (uk) m (záxyst)
• Urdu: رکشا‎ f (rakṣā), دفاع‎ (difā')
• Uyghur: ھىمايە‎ (himaye), مۇداپىئە‎ (mudapi'e)
• Uzbek: himoya (uz), mudofaa (uz)
• Vietnamese: cái để bảo vệ
• Yiddish: פֿאַרטיידיקונג‎ f (farteydikung)

anything employed to oppose attack

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: պաշտպանություն (hy) (paštpanutʿyun)
• Bulgarian: отбра́на (bg) (otbrána), отбранителни съоръжени pl (otbranitelni sǎorǎženi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 防禦物／防御物 (fángyùwù)

• Czech: obrana (cs) f
• Danish: forsvar
• Dutch: verdediging (nl) f, verweer (nl) n
• Faroese: verja
• Finnish: puolustus (fi)
• Georgian: თავდაცვა (tavdacva)
• German: Verteidigung (de) f
• Greek: άμυνα (el) f (ámyna)
• Hebrew: הגנה‎ (he) f (hagana)
• Hungarian: védelem (hu)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: بەرگری‎ (ckb) (bergrî)

• Latin: mūnīmen n, mūnīmentum n
• Macedonian: одбрана f (odbrana)
• Maori: whakarurunga
• Old English: bewering f
• Polish: obrona (pl) f
• Portuguese: defesa (pt) f, escudo (pt) m
• Romanian: apărare (ro) f
• Russian: защи́та (ru) f (zaščíta), оборо́на (ru) f (oboróna), оборони́тельные сооруже́ния n pl (oboronítelʹnyje sooružénija)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: о̏дбрана f, о̏брана f

  Roman: ȍdbrana (sh) f, ȍbrana (sh) f

• Spanish: defensa (es) f
• Swedish: försvar (sv) n

team sports: strategy and tactics

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: պաշտպանություն (hy) (paštpanutʿyun)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: obrana (cs) f
• Finnish: puolustus (fi)
• Hungarian: védelem (hu), védekezés (hu)
• Portuguese: retranca (pt) f
• Romanian: apărare (ro) f
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

team sports: portion of a team

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: պաշտպանություն (hy) (paštpanutʿyun)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 防守 (zh) (fángshǒu)

• Czech: obrana (cs) f
• Finnish: puolustus (fi)
• Hungarian: védelem (hu)
• Romanian: apărare (ro) f
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

argument in support or justification of something

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: obrana (cs) f
• Dutch: verweer (nl) n
• Finnish: puolustus (fi), puolustelu (fi)
• Gothic: 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌾𐍉𐌽𐍃 f (sunjōns)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἀπολογία f (apología)

• Hungarian: védés, védekezés (hu), védelem (hu)
• Italian: difesa (it) f
• Macedonian: одбрана f (odbrana)
• Polish: obrona (pl) f
• Portuguese: defesa (pt) f
• Romanian: apărare (ro) f
• Russian: защи́та (ru) f (zaščíta)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: о̏дбрана f, о̏брана f

  Roman: ȍdbrana (sh) f, ȍbrana (sh) f

• Spanish: descargo (es)
• Swedish: försvar (sv) n
• Urdu: صَفائی‎ f (ṣafā'ī)

government policy or structure

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: obrana (cs) f
• Finnish: puolustus (fi), maanpuolustus (fi)
• Georgian: თავდაცვა (tavdacva), თავდაცვის სამინისტრო (tavdacvis saminisṭro)
• Malayalam: പ്രതിരോധം (ml) (pratirōdhaṃ)
• Old English: utwaru f, wiþermal n
• Romanian: apărare (ro) f
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

prohibitory ordinance

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: zákaz (cs) m
• Finnish: kielto (fi)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

Latin

Pronunciation

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

Participle

dēfēnse

1. vocative masculine singular of dēfēnsus

Spanish

Pronunciation

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

Verb

defense

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