DEFENCE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does defence mean? 

• DEFENCE (noun)
  The noun DEFENCE has 11 senses:

1. (psychiatry) an unconscious process that tries to reduce the anxiety associated with instinctive desires

2. (sports) the team that is trying to prevent the other team from scoring

3. the defendant and his legal advisors collectively

4. an organization of defenders that provides resistance against attack

5. the speech act of answering an attack on your assertions

6. the justification for some act or belief

7. a structure used to defend against attack

8. a defendant's answer or plea denying the truth of the charges against him

9. (military) military action or resources protecting a country against potential enemies

10. protection from harm

11. the act of defending someone or something against attack or injury

  Familiarity information: DEFENCE used as a noun is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DEFENCE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(psychiatry) an unconscious process that tries to reduce the anxiety associated with instinctive desires

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

defence; defence mechanism; defence reaction; defense; defense mechanism; defense reaction

Hypernyms ("defence" is a kind of...):

process; unconscious process (a mental process that you are not directly aware of)

psychoanalytic process (a process that is assumed to occur in psychoanalytic theory)

Domain category:

psychiatry; psychological medicine; psychopathology (the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "defence"):

compensation ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism that conceals your undesirable shortcomings by exaggerating desirable behaviors)

conversion ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism represses emotional conflicts which are then converted into physical symptoms that have no organic basis)

denial ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism that denies painful thoughts)

displacement ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism that transfers affect or reaction from the original object to some more acceptable one)

idealisation; idealization ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism that splits something you are ambivalent about into two representations--one good and one bad)

intellectualisation; intellectualization ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism that uses reasoning to block out emotional stress and conflict)

isolation ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism in which memory of an unacceptable act or impulse is separated from the emotion originally associated with it)

projection ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism by which your own traits and emotions are attributed to someone else)

rationalisation; rationalization ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism by which your true motivation is concealed by explaining your actions and feelings in a way that is not threatening)

reaction formation ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism in which a person unconsciously develops attitudes and behavior that are the opposite of unacceptable repressed desires and impulses and serve to conceal them)

regression ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism in which you flee from reality by assuming a more infantile state)

repression ((psychiatry) the classical defense mechanism that protects you from impulses or ideas that would cause anxiety by preventing them from becoming conscious)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(sports) the team that is trying to prevent the other team from scoring

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

defence; defending team; defense

Context example:

his teams are always good on defense

Hypernyms ("defence" is a kind of...):

squad; team (a cooperative unit (especially in sports))

Domain category:

athletics; sport (an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition)

Antonym:

offence (the team that has the ball (or puck) and is trying to score)

Derivation:

defend (be on the defensive; act against an attack)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The defendant and his legal advisors collectively

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

defence; defense; defense lawyers; defense team

Context example:

the defense called for a mistrial

Hypernyms ("defence" is a kind of...):

accumulation; aggregation; assemblage; collection (several things grouped together or considered as a whole)

Derivation:

defend (be the defense counsel for someone in a trial)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An organization of defenders that provides resistance against attack

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

defence; defence force; defense; defense force

Context example:

he joined the defense against invasion

Hypernyms ("defence" is a kind of...):

organisation; organization (a group of people who work together)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "defence"):

bastion (a group that defends a principle)

Derivation:

defend (protect against a challenge or attack)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The speech act of answering an attack on your assertions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

defence; defense; refutation

Context example:

in defense he said the other man started it

Hypernyms ("defence" is a kind of...):

answer (the speech act of replying to a question)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "defence"):

confutation (the speech act of refuting conclusively)

rebuttal (the speech act of refuting by offering a contrary contention or argument)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The justification for some act or belief

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

defence; defense; vindication

Context example:

he offered a persuasive defense of the theory

Hypernyms ("defence" is a kind of...):

justification (a statement in explanation of some action or belief)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "defence"):

apologia; apology (a formal written defense of something you believe in strongly)

alibi; exculpation; excuse; self-justification (a defense of some offensive behavior or some failure to keep a promise etc.)

alibi ((law) a defense by an accused person purporting to show that he or she could not have committed the crime in question)

Derivation:

defend (argue or speak in defense of)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A structure used to defend against attack

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

defence; defense; defensive structure

Context example:

the artillery battered down the defenses

Hypernyms ("defence" is a kind of...):

construction; structure (a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "defence"):

cheval-de-frise; chevaux-de-frise (defensive structure consisting of a movable obstacle composed of barbed wire or spikes attached to a wooden frame; used to obstruct cavalry)

fortification; munition (defensive structure consisting of walls or mounds built around a stronghold to strengthen it)

fort; fortress (a fortified defensive structure)

line of defence; line of defense (defensive structure consisting of a barrier that can be employed for defense against attack)

outwork (subsidiary defensive structure lying outside the main fortified area)

fastness; stronghold (a strongly fortified defensive structure)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A defendant's answer or plea denying the truth of the charges against him

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

defence; defense; demurrer; denial

Context example:

he gave evidence for the defense

Hypernyms ("defence" is a kind of...):

due process; due process of law ((law) the administration of justice according to established rules and principles; based on the principle that a person cannot be deprived of life or liberty or property without appropriate legal procedures and safeguards)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "defence"):

entrapment (a defense that claims the defendant would not have broken the law if not tricked into doing it by law enforcement officials)

Holonyms ("defence" is a part of...):

trial ((law) the determination of a person's innocence or guilt by due process of law)

Sense 9

Meaning:

(military) military action or resources protecting a country against potential enemies

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

defence; defense; defensive measure

Context example:

they were developed for the defense program

Hypernyms ("defence" is a kind of...):

action; military action (a military engagement)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "defence"):

air defense (defensive measures designed to destroy attacking enemy aircraft or missiles or to nullify their effectiveness)

stand (a defensive effort)

hasty defence; hasty defense (a defense organized while in contact with the enemy or when time is limited)

deliberate defence; deliberate defense (a defense organized before contact is made with the enemy and while time for organization is available; usually includes a fortified zone (with pillboxes) and communication systems)

biodefence; biodefense; biological defence; biological defense (procedures involved in taking defensive measures against attacks using biological agents)

chemical defence; chemical defense (procedures involved in taking defensive measures against attacks using chemical agents)

minelaying; mining (laying explosive mines in concealed places to destroy enemy personnel and equipment)

biological warfare defence; biological warfare defense; BW defence; BW defense (defense against biological warfare)

umbrella (a formation of military planes maintained over ground operations or targets)

Sense 10

Meaning:

Protection from harm

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

defence; defense

Context example:

sanitation is the best defense against disease

Hypernyms ("defence" is a kind of...):

protection (the activity of protecting someone or something)

Sense 11

Meaning:

The act of defending someone or something against attack or injury

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

defence; defense

Context example:

defense against hurricanes is an urgent problem

Hypernyms ("defence" is a kind of...):

protection (the activity of protecting someone or something)

 Context examples 

A scheme of which every part promises delight can never be successful; and general disappointment is only warded off by the defence of some little peculiar vexation.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

I bid you very heartily welcome, and the more so as you are come at a moment when we are sore put to it for means of defence.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"I am not a specialist," he said, in defence, to Ruth.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I was about to make some reply in defence of my friend when he entered the room again.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He refused to plead guilty or not guilty, and remained silent when she asked him if he had anything to say in his own defence.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

The lack of combination in the three-quarter line and their weakness both in attack and defence more than neutralized the efforts of a heavy and hard-working pack.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Importantly, RNA interference is known to provide defence against viral infection in honey bees and other organisms.

(Discovery of RNA transfer through royal jelly could aid development of honey bee vaccines, University of Cambridge)

As a result, not much was known about how these plants defend themselves from pathogens or how plant defence strategies have evolved.

(Ancient defence strategy continues to protect plants from pathogens, University of Cambridge)

Mr. Kirwin charged himself with every care of collecting witnesses and arranging my defence.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

And while this was going on, the captain completed, in his own mind, the plan of the defence.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)