DEFENSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Defense mean? 

• DEFENSE (noun)
  The noun DEFENSE has 12 senses:

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

2. protection from harm

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

4. the justification for some act or belief

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

6. the federal department responsible for safeguarding national security of the United States; created in 1947

7. the defendant and his legal advisors collectively

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

9. an organization of defenders that provides resistance against attack

10. a structure used to defend against attack

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

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

  Familiarity information: DEFENSE used as a noun is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DEFENSE (noun)

Sense 1

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 ("defense" 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 "defense"):

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 2

Meaning:

Protection from harm

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

defence; defense

Context example:

sanitation is the best defense against disease

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

protection (the activity of protecting someone or something)

Sense 3

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 ("defense" 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:

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

Sense 4

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 ("defense" is a kind of...):

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

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

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)

Sense 5

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 ("defense" 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 "defense"):

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 6

Meaning:

The federal department responsible for safeguarding national security of the United States; created in 1947

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

Defense; Defense Department; Department of Defense; DoD; United States Department of Defense

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

executive department (a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States)

Meronyms (parts of "Defense"):

Casualty Care Research Center; CCRC (an agency in the Department of Defense that is a national center for research on all aspects of injury control and casualty care)

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; NGA (a combat support agency that provides geographic intelligence in support of national security)

Defense Information Systems Agency; DISA (a combat support agency in the Department of Defense responsible for developing and operating and supporting information systems to serve the needs of the President and the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff)

Ballistic Missile Defense Organization; BMDO (an agency in the Department of Defense that is responsible for making ballistic missile defense a reality)

Army; U. S. Army; United States Army; US Army; USA (the army of the United States of America; the agency that organizes and trains soldiers for land warfare)

National Security Agency; NSA (the United States cryptologic organization that coordinates and directs highly specialized activities to protect United States information systems and to produce foreign intelligence information)

National Reconnaissance Office; NRO (an intelligence agency in the United States Department of Defense that designs and builds and operates space reconnaissance systems to detect trouble spots worldwide and to monitor arms control agreements and environmental issues and to help plan military operations)

Defense Logistics Agency (a logistics combat support agency in the Department of Defense; provides worldwide support for military missions)

Defense Intelligence Agency; DIA (an intelligence agency of the United States in the Department of Defense; is responsible for providing intelligence in support of military planning and operations and weapons acquisition)

Air Force; U. S. Air Force; United States Air Force; US Air Force; USAF (the airforce of the United States of America; the agency that defends the United States through control and exploitation of air and space)

Navy; United States Navy; US Navy; USN (the navy of the United States of America; the agency that maintains and trains and equips combat-ready naval forces)

Department of Defense Laboratory System; LABLINK (a defense laboratory that provides essential services in fundamental science for national security and environmental protection and provides technologies that contribute to industrial competitiveness)

DARPA; Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (the central research and development organization for the United States Department of Defense; responsible for developing new surveillance technologies since 9/11)

Defense Technical Information Center; DTIC (the agency in the Department of Defense that provides scientific and technical information to federal agencies and their contractors)

Sense 7

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 ("defense" is a kind of...):

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

Antonym:

prosecution (the lawyers acting for the state to put the case against the defendant)

Sense 8

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 ("defense" is a kind of...):

answer (the speech act of replying to a question)

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

confutation (the speech act of refuting conclusively)

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

Sense 9

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 ("defense" is a kind of...):

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

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

bastion (a group that defends a principle)

Sense 10

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 ("defense" 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 "defense"):

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 11

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 ("defense" 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 "defense"):

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

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

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

Antonym:

prosecution (the institution and conduct of legal proceedings against a defendant for criminal behavior)

Sense 12

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 ("defense" is a kind of...):

protection (the activity of protecting someone or something)

 Context examples 

C-X-C chemokine receptor type 6 protein (342 aa, 39 kD) is a cell defense protein that is encoded by the human CXCR6 gene and has roles in cell motility, cell defense, immune response and cell signaling.

(C-X-C Chemokine Receptor Type 6, NCI Thesaurus)

This protein is cleaved during biological activation and is associated with host defense mechanisms and inflammatory responses.

(C-Reactive Protein, NCI Thesaurus)

C-C chemokine receptor type 9 (369 aa, 42 kD) is a cell motility protein that is encoded by the human CCR9 gene and has roles in cellular defense response, chemotaxis, immune response and signal transduction.

(C-C Chemokine Receptor Type 9, NCI Thesaurus)

This complex is expressed in the cytosol of neutrophils and macrophages and plays a role in multiple host defense related processes including immunomodulation, neutrophil chemotaxis and both antibacterial and antifungal responses.

(Calprotectin, NCI Thesaurus)

This gene plays a role in the regulation of host defense responses and mediates pathogen-binding properties.

(CD209 Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

This gene is involved in immunity/defense via the activation of T cells.

(CD3D Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

This gene plays a role in immunity/defense.

(CD247 Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

This allele, which encodes bactericidal permeability-increasing protein, plays a role in defense against gram-negative bacterial infections.

(BPI wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

White blood cells fight infection and are part of your body's defense system.

(Blood, NIH)

This process can play a role in cellular defense, embryonic development, and cell growth.

(Autophagy, NCI Thesaurus)