defense (noun)
1: (sports) the team that is trying to prevent the other team
from scoring; "his teams are always good on defense"
[syn: defence, defending team] [ant: offense, offense]
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"
[syn: defence, defensive measure]
3: the defendant and his legal advisors collectively; "the
defense called for a mistrial" [syn: defence, [[defense
team]], defense lawyers] [ant: prosecution]
4: protection from harm; "sanitation is the best defense
against disease" [syn: defence]
5: a structure used for defense; "the artillery battered down
the defenses" [syn: defensive structure, defence]
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" [syn: refutation,
defence]
7: the justification for some act or belief; "he offered a
persuasive defense of the theory" [syn: defence, vindication]
8: a defendant's answer or plea denying the truth of the
charges against him; "he gave evidence for the defense"
[syn: defence, denial, demurrer] [ant: prosecution]
9: an organization of defenders that provides resistance
against attack; "he joined the defense against invasion"
[syn: defence, defense force, defence force]
10: the federal department responsible for safeguarding national
security of the UnitedStates; created in 1947 [syn: [[Department
of Defense]], Defense Department, [[United States
Department of Defense]], Defense, DoD]
11: (psychiatry) an unconscious process that tries to reduce the
anxiety associated with instinctive desires [syn: [[defense
mechanism]], defense reaction, defence mechanism, [[defence
reaction]], defence]