defense
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
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: {defense}, {defence}, {defensive
measure}]
2: protection from harm; "sanitation is the best defense against
disease" [syn: {defense}, {defence}]
3: (sports) the team that is trying to prevent the other team
from scoring; "his teams are always good on defense" [syn:
{defense}, {defence}, {defending team}] [ant: {offence},
{offense}]
4: the justification for some act or belief; "he offered a
persuasive defense of the theory" [syn: {defense}, {defence},
{vindication}]
5: (psychiatry) an unconscious process that tries to reduce the
anxiety associated with instinctive desires [syn: {defense
mechanism}, {defense reaction}, {defence mechanism}, {defence
reaction}, {defense}, {defence}]
6: 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}]
7: the defendant and his legal advisors collectively; "the
defense called for a mistrial" [syn: {defense}, {defence},
{defense team}, {defense lawyers}] [ant: {prosecution}]
8: 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},
{defense}, {defence}]
9: an organization of defenders that provides resistance against
attack; "he joined the defense against invasion" [syn:
{defense}, {defence}, {defense force}, {defence force}]
10: a structure used to defend against attack; "the artillery
battered down the defenses" [syn: {defensive structure},
{defense}, {defence}]
11: a defendant's answer or plea denying the truth of the
charges against him; "he gave evidence for the defense"
[syn: {defense}, {defence}, {denial}, {demurrer}] [ant:
{criminal prosecution}, {prosecution}]
12: 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: {defense},
{defence}]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Defense \De*fense"\, Defence \De*fence"\, n. [F. d['e]fense, OF.
defense, fem., defens, masc., fr. L. defensa (cf. LL.
defensum), from defendere. See {Defend}, and cf. {Fence}.]
1. The act of defending, or the state of being defended;
protection, as from violence or danger.
[1913 Webster]
In cases of defense 't is best to weigh
The enemy more mighty than he seems. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. That which defends or protects; anything employed to
oppose attack, ward off violence or danger, or maintain
security; a guard; a protection.
[1913 Webster]
War would arise in defense of the right. --Tennyson.
[1913 Webster]
God, the widow's champion and defense. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. Protecting plea; vindication; justification.
[1913 Webster]
Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defense.
--Acts xxii.
1.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Law) The defendant's answer or plea; an opposing or
denial of the truth or validity of the plaintiff's or
prosecutor's case; the method of proceeding adopted by the
defendant to protect himself against the plaintiff's
action.
[1913 Webster]
5. Act or skill in making defense; defensive plan or policy;
practice in self defense, as in fencing, boxing, etc.
[1913 Webster]
A man of great defense. --Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
By how much defense is better than no skill. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
6. Prohibition; a prohibitory ordinance. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
Severe defenses . . . against wearing any linen
under a certain breadth. --Sir W.
Temple.
[1913 Webster]
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
152 Moby Thesaurus words for "defense":
aegis, answer, apologetic, apologetics, apologia, apology,
arch dam, argument, argumentation, armament, armor, arms, backfire,
backstop, bamboo curtain, bank, bar, barrage, barrier,
bear-trap dam, beaver dam, bicker, bickering, boom, breakwater,
breastwork, brick wall, buffer, bulkhead, bulwark, casuistry,
cofferdam, comeback, confutation, contention, contraremonstrance,
controversy, counteraccusation, counterattack, counterblast,
counterblow, countercharge, counterclaim, counterfire,
counterinsurgency, countermeasure, counterreply, counterrevolution,
counterstatement, counterstep, counterstroke, cover, dam, demurrer,
denial, dike, disputation, dispute, ditch, earthwork, embankment,
exception, exculpation, excuse, explanation, eye, fastness, fence,
flyting, fort, fortress, gate, gravity dam, groin, guard, hassle,
hubbub, hydraulic-fill dam, iron curtain, jam, jetty,
justification, leaping weir, lee, levee, litigation, logjam,
logomachy, milldam, moat, mole, mound, munitions, objection,
paper war, parapet, passage of arms, plea, pleading, pleadings,
polemic, polemics, portcullis, preservation, protection,
protective custody, rampart, rationalization, rebuttal, rebutter,
refuge, refutation, rejoinder, replication, reply, response,
retort, return, rhubarb, riposte, roadblock, rock-fill dam,
safeguard, safekeeping, safety, seawall, security, set-to, shade,
shadow, shelter, shield, shutter dam, special demurrer,
special pleading, statement of defense, stone wall, stronghold,
surrebuttal, surrebutter, surrejoinder, verbal engagement, wall,
war of words, ward, watchful eye, weaponry, weapons, weir,
wicket dam, work, wrangling
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