n. 1
The action of defending or protecting from attack, danger, or injury.
n. 2
Anything employed to oppose attack(s). A strategy and tactics employed to prevent the other team from scoring; contrasted with offense.
n. 3
Anything employed to oppose attack(s). The portion of a team dedicated to preventing the other team from scoring; contrasted with offense.

Related words

Word family: defenseless defensive defend
Phrases: defense attorney defense mechanism defense in abatement defense lawyer defense wound gay panic defense homosexual panic defense thesis defense
Other spellings: defence UK

Forms

Plural: defenses → denials, demurrers, shields, guards…

Choose the right word

Defense, Apology, Apologies or Confession?

Apology has undergone a remarkable change from its old sense of a valiant defense--as in Justin Martyr's Apologies for the Christian faith--to its present meaning of humble confession and concession.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

guard The security guard went back on his normal patrol.
shield The goddess gave the warrior a sword and a shield.
justification There can be no justification for harming a child.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
defense		falling
guard		rising
shield		steady
justification		steady

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters: wall¹, ward¹, plea¹
5 letters: cover², guard¹, fence¹, armor²
6 letters: answer², excuse², shield¹, denial³, refuge², armour²
7 letters: shelter², apology⁴, bulwark², rampart²
8 letters: security⁴, fortress², demurrer
9 letters: earthwork²
10 letters: protection³, resistance³, refutation⁴
11 letters: vindication⁴
12 letters: preservation⁴
13 letters: justification⁵, fortification⁵

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (cover² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: défense
Italiano: difesa
Español: prohibición
Deutsch: Verbot
Català: defensa