DEFENCE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Defence

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/dɪfˈɛns/ Listen

noun

Defence n., v. t. See Defense.

Defence, Defense n.

1.

The act of defending, or the state of being defended; protection, as from violence or danger. "In cases of defense 't is best to weigh The enemy more mighty than he seems."

2.

That which defends or protects; anything employed to oppose attack, ward off violence or danger, or maintain security; a guard; a protection. "War would arise in defense of the right." "God, the widow's champion and defense."

3.

Protecting plea; vindication; justification. "Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defense."

4.

(Law) The defendant's answer or plea; an opposing or denial of the truth or validity of the plaintiff's or prosecutor's case; the method of proceeding adopted by the defendant to protect himself against the plaintiff's action.

5.

Act or skill in making defense; defensive plan or policy; practice in self defense, as in fencing, boxing, etc. "A man of great defense." "By how much defense is better than no skill."

6.

Prohibition; a prohibitory ordinance. (Obs.) "Severe defenses... against wearing any linen under a certain breadth."

verb

Defense v. t. (Written also defence) To furnish with defenses; to fortify. (Obs.) "Better manned and more strongly defensed."

See images of 'Defence'

Etymology of 'Defence'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Defence" Quotes from Famous Books

... had been wounded three times in the war, and was heavy-weight champion of the 1st Division. I got his O.C. to attach him to me, and I placed him in the cellar at Maroc where he began to instruct the men in the noble art of self defence. People used to wonder why I had a prize-fighter attached to me, and I told them that if the Junior Chaplains were insubordinate, I wanted to be able to call in some one in an emergency to administer discipline. I always said, with (p. 195) perfect truth, that since my ...

— The Great War As I Saw It • Frederick George Scott

... his jaw drooping. For just a second he stiffened his arms as though to throw himself in an attitude of defence. ...

— Dick Prescott's Third Year at West Point - Standing Firm for Flag and Honor • H. Irving Hancock

... side of the cathedral and the city wall, all of which belonged to the monks, was the site of the monastic buildings. The whole group formed by the cathedral and the subsidiary buildings was girt by a massive wall, which was restored and made more effective as a defence by Lanfranc. It is probable that some of the remains of this wall, which still survive, may be considered as dating from his time. The chief gate, both in ancient and modern days, is Prior Goldstone's Gate, usually known as Christ Church Gate, ...

— The Cathedral Church of Canterbury [2nd ed.]. • Hartley Withers

... conservative policy, which he continued until the close of his career. The last time he took any important part in the debates of the Chamber of Deputies was on the 20th of March, when he made an ingenious defence of the conduct of government with respect to the events of Grenoble. His last appearance in the Chamber was on the 29th of March, when he merely brought in several private bills. On the 3rd of April he was attacked by the cholera, and, although the indefatigable care bestowed on him by his ...

— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 20, - Issue 563, August 25, 1832 • Various

... providence and an affront offered to divine Majesty, who has given to man his own peculiar image.—That the Americans after considering the subject in this light—after making the most manly of all possible exertions in defence of liberty—after publishing to the world the principle upon which they contended, viz.: "that all men are by nature and of right ought to be free," should still retain in subjection a numerous tribe of the human race merely ...

— The Journal of Negro History, Vol. I. Jan. 1916 • Various

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