LINE OF DEFENSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does line of defense mean? 

• LINE OF DEFENSE (noun)
  The noun LINE OF DEFENSE has 2 senses:

1. any organization whose responsibility it is to defend against something

2. defensive structure consisting of a barrier that can be employed for defense against attack

  Familiarity information: LINE OF DEFENSE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LINE OF DEFENSE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any organization whose responsibility it is to defend against something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

line of defence; line of defense

Context example:

police are the major line of defense against crime

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

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

Defensive structure consisting of a barrier that can be employed for defense against attack

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

line of defence; line of defense

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

defence; defense; defensive structure (a structure used to defend against attack)

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

abatis; abattis (a line of defense consisting of a barrier of felled or live trees with branches (sharpened or with barbed wire entwined) pointed toward the enemy)

 Context examples 

This part of the immune system is the body’s rapid first line of defense against infection.

(Diet Affects Autoinflammatory Disease Via Gut Microbes, NIH)

The innate immune system is the body’s rapid first line of defense against infection.

(Gene linked to rare inflammatory disease in children, NIH)

One striking feature of intestinal immunity is its ability to generate great amounts of noninflammatory immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies that serve as the first line of defense against microorganisms.

(Intestinal IgA Production Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/KEGG)

Blood vessels in the dura mater are relatively open compared to the tightly sealed vessels found in other brain regions, and macrophages in the dura mater often serve as the first line of defense against harmful blood-borne agents.

(Meningitis changes immune cell makeup in the mouse brain lining, National Institutes of Health)