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the act of defending someone or something against attack or injury
e.g. a good boxer needs a good defense
e.g. defense against hurricanes is an urgent problem
Synonym: defence
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protection from harm
e.g. sanitation is the best defense against disease
Synonym: defence
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(military) military action or resources protecting a country against potential enemies
e.g. they died in the defense of Stalingrad
e.g. they were developed for the defense program
Synonym: defence defensive measure
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a defendant's answer or plea denying the truth of the charges against him
e.g. he gave evidence for the defense
Synonym: defence denial demurrer
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a structure used to defend against attack
e.g. the artillery battered down the defenses
Synonym: defensive structure defence
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the justification for some act or belief
e.g. he offered a persuasive defense of the theory
Synonym: defence vindication
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the speech act of answering an attack on your assertions
e.g. his refutation of the charges was short and persuasive
e.g. in defense he said the other man started it
Synonym: refutation defence
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an organization of defenders that provides resistance against attack
e.g. he joined the defense against invasion
Synonym: defence defense force defence force
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the defendant and his legal advisors collectively
e.g. the defense called for a mistrial
Synonym: defence defense team defense lawyers
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(sports) the team that is trying to prevent the other team from scoring
e.g. his teams are always good on defense
Synonym: defence defending team
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(psychiatry) an unconscious process that tries to reduce the anxiety associated with instinctive desires
Synonym: defense mechanism defense reaction defence mechanism defence reaction defence