defense

n. protection, security; means of protecting something from attack, action of defending from attack; rampart; (Sports) players positioned in the defensive end of the field, defensive players, action of defending one's goal against the opposing body (also defence)

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Noun
1. the federal department responsible for safeguarding national security of the UnitedStates; created in 1947
(synonym) Department of Defense, Defense Department, United States Department of Defense, DoD
(hypernym) executive department
(part-meronym) Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA

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Noun
1. (sports) the team that is trying to prevent the other team from scoring; "his teams are always good on defense"
(synonym) defence, defending team
(antonym) offense, offence
(hypernym) team, squad
(classification) sport, athletics
2. military action or resources protecting a country against potential enemies; "they died in the defense of Stalingrad"; "they were developed for the defense program"
(synonym) defence, defensive measure
(hypernym) military action, action
(hyponym) umbrella
(classification) military, armed forces, armed services, military machine, war machine
3. the defendant and his legal advisors collectively; "the defense called for a mistrial"
(synonym) defence, defense team, defense lawyers
(antonym) prosecution
(hypernym) collection, aggregation, accumulation, assemblage
4. protection from harm; "sanitation is the best defense against disease"
(synonym) defence
(hypernym) protection
5. a structure used for defense; "the artillery battered down the defenses"
(synonym) defensive structure, defence
(hypernym) structure, construction
(hyponym) cheval-de-frise, chevaux-de-frise
6. 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"
(synonym) refutation, defence
(hypernym) answer
(hyponym) confutation
7. the justification for some act or belief; "he offered a persuasive defense of the theory"
(synonym) defence, vindication
(hypernym) justification
(hyponym) apology, apologia
8. a defendant's answer or plea denying the truth of the charges against him; "he gave evidence for the defense"
(synonym) defence, denial, demurrer
(antonym) prosecution, criminal prosecution
(hypernym) due process, due process of law
(hyponym) entrapment
(part-holonym) trial
(classification) law, jurisprudence
9. an organization of defenders that provides resistance against attack; "he joined the defense against invasion"
(synonym) defence, defense force, defence force
(hypernym) organization, organisation
(hyponym) bastion
10. (psychiatry) an unconscious process that tries to reduce the anxiety associated with instinctive desires
(synonym) defense mechanism, defense reaction, defence mechanism, defence reaction, defence
(hypernym) psychoanalytic process
(hyponym) compensation
(classification) psychiatry, psychopathology, psychological medicine

nf. defence, apology, defense; championship; vindication, prohibition, conservation

v. defend, protect