Meaning & use
defend
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To protect someone or something from attack, harm, or danger.
Grammar: Takes an object, often with against or from: defend the town against invaders.
Patterns
- defend something against something
- defend someone from something
Soldiers defended the bridge for three days.
A dog will defend its home against strangers.
She learned to defend herself in a self-defense class.
verbtransitive
To speak or write in support of a person, idea, or action that is being criticized.
Grammar: Often followed by a reason: he defended his decision.
Patterns
- defend someone against something
- defend something as something
He defended his friend when others laughed at him.
The minister defended the plan as fair.
I will defend your right to disagree.
verbtransitivelegal
To act as a lawyer for someone accused of a crime, or to argue the accused person's side in court.
Grammar: Usually refers to a lawyer: she defends clients in court.
Patterns
- defend someone against something
- defend someone on a charge
The lawyer defended him against the theft charge.
She was hired to defend the company in court.
A public defender will defend those who cannot afford a lawyer.
verbtransitive or intransitivesport
To try to stop the opposing team from scoring, or to try to keep a title you hold.
Grammar: Used in sport: the team defended well; she will defend her title.
Patterns
- defend a title
- defend against something
The champion will defend her title next month.
Our team defended well in the second half.
They defended deep and waited for a chance to counterattack.
Word forms
| third person singular | defends |
|---|---|
| past tense | defended |
| past participle | defended |
| -ing form | defending |
Common combinations
- defend yourself
- He had to defend himself against a rude question.
- defend a decision
- The coach defended his decision to rest the star player.
- defend a title
- The boxer will defend his title in June.
- defend against attack
- The army defended against attack from the north.
- defend a client
- The lawyer defended her client with passion.
- defend the right
- Citizens must defend the right to speak freely.
Synonyms and how they differ
- protect
- Protect is wider and can mean preventing any harm, while defend suggests an active response to an attack or criticism.
- guard
- Guard suggests watching over something to prevent harm, often without any conflict happening.
- support
- Support just means backing something, whereas defend suggests it is under challenge.
- justify
- Justify means giving reasons that show something is right, while defend means standing up for it.
Opposites
Word family
- defense noun
- protection against attack or criticism
- defender noun
- a person who defends
- defendant noun
- a person accused in court
- defensive adjective
- protecting or quick to feel criticized
- defensible adjective
- able to be justified or protected
Commonly confused: defend or defendant?
defend vs defendant
A defendant is the person accused in a trial. To defend is what the lawyer does for that person.
Practice
The minister tried to ___ the new law against strong criticism.
Choose one answer.
Defend means to speak in support of something under criticism. Defeat, define, and deflate have different meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “defend”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.