Definition of “defense” - English Dictionary

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“defense” in English

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defensenoun [ C or U ]

uk ​ /dɪˈfens/ us ​ /dɪˈfens/

(Definition of “defense” from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

“defense” in American English

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defensenoun [ C/U ]

us ​ /dɪˈfens/

defense noun [ C/U ] (PROTECTION)

› the ability to protect against attack or harm, or something used to protect against attack or harm:

[ C ] The vaccine strengthens the body’s defenses against infection.

› A defense is also an argument in support of something, esp. when it has been criticized:

[ U ] Her defense consisted of denying that she knew anything about the missing check.

› law The defense is the person or people in a court who have been accused of doing something wrong, and their lawyer:

[ U ] The defense rests (= This side has finished giving its argument).
defenselessness
noun [ U ] us ​ /dɪˈfens·ləs·nəs/

defensenoun [ U ]

us ​ /dɪˈfens, ˈdi·fens/

› (in sports) the ability to prevent the opposition from scoring points in a competition, or, esp. in football, the team without the ball that is trying to prevent its opposition from scoring points:

The team has pretty good scoring ability, but it’s weak on defense.

(Definition of “defense” from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

“defense” in Business English

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defensenoun

uk ​ /dɪˈfens/ us ​ US spelling of

› →  defence

(Definition of “defense” from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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