What does defend mean?
Definitions for defend
dɪˈfɛndde·fend
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word defend.
Princeton's WordNet
defend, support, fend for(verb)
argue or speak in defense of
"She supported the motion to strike"
defend(verb)
be on the defensive; act against an attack
defend, guard, hold(verb)
protect against a challenge or attack
"Hold that position behind the trees!"; "Hold the bridge against the enemy's attacks"
fight, oppose, fight back, fight down, defend(verb)
fight against or resist strongly
"The senator said he would oppose the bill"; "Don't fight it!"
champion, defend(verb)
protect or fight for as a champion
defend, represent(verb)
be the defense counsel for someone in a trial
"Ms. Smith will represent the defendant"
maintain, defend(verb)
state or assert
"He maintained his innocence"
Wiktionary
defend(Verb)
To ward off, repel (an attack or attacker).
Etymology: defenden, from deffendre (Modern: défendre), from defendo.
defend(Verb)
To prevent, to keep (from doing something).
Etymology: defenden, from deffendre (Modern: défendre), from defendo.
defend(Verb)
To prohibit, forbid.
Etymology: defenden, from deffendre (Modern: défendre), from defendo.
defend(Verb)
To ward off attacks from; to fight to protect; to guard.
Etymology: defenden, from deffendre (Modern: défendre), from defendo.
defend(Verb)
To support by words or writing; to vindicate, talk in favour of.
Etymology: defenden, from deffendre (Modern: défendre), from defendo.
defend(Verb)
To make legal defence of; to represent (the accused).
Etymology: defenden, from deffendre (Modern: défendre), from defendo.
defend(Verb)
To focus one's energies and talents on preventing opponents from scoring, as opposed to focusing on scoring.
Etymology: defenden, from deffendre (Modern: défendre), from defendo.
defend(Verb)
To attempt to retain a title, or attempt to reach the same stage in a competition as one did in the previous edition of that competition.
Etymology: defenden, from deffendre (Modern: défendre), from defendo.
defend(Verb)
To call a raise from the big blind.
Etymology: defenden, from deffendre (Modern: défendre), from defendo.
Webster Dictionary
Defend(verb)
to ward or fend off; to drive back or away; to repel
Defend(verb)
to prohibit; to forbid
Defend(verb)
to repel danger or harm from; to protect; to secure against; attack; to maintain against force or argument; to uphold; to guard; as, to defend a town; to defend a cause; to defend character; to defend the absent; -- sometimes followed by from or against; as, to defend one's self from, or against, one's enemies
Defend(verb)
to deny the right of the plaintiff in regard to (the suit, or the wrong charged); to oppose or resist, as a claim at law; to contest, as a suit
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Defend
de-fend′, v.t. to keep off anything hurtful: to guard or protect: to maintain against attack: (obs.) to prohibit, forbid: (law) to resist, as a claim: to contest.—adj. Defend′able, that may be defended.—ns. Defend′ant, a defender: (law) a person accused or sued; Defendee′, one who is defended; Defend′er; Defen′sative, a protection; Defensibil′ity.—adjs. Defens′ible, that may be defended; Defens′ive, Defen′sory, serving to defend: in a state or posture of defence.—n. that which defends: posture of defence.—adv. Defens′ively.—Defender of the Faith, a title borne by the sovereigns of England since Henry VIII., on whom it was conferred in 1521 for his book against Luther.—Be on the defensive, to be in the position to defend one's self. [L. defendĕre, defensum, to ward off—de, off, and obs. fendĕre, to strike.]
Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
defend
To secure against attack; to maintain; as, to defend a town; to defend a cause.
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'defend' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4428
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'defend' in Written Corpus Frequency: #4612
Verbs Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'defend' in Verbs Frequency: #456
Anagrams for defend »
fended
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of defend in Chaldean Numerology is: 4
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of defend in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2
Examples of defend in a Sentence
The people of the United States expect their president to make such decisions, and I will not disappoint them. I will do whatever it takes to defend this nation and its people.
Press Secretary Sarah Sanders:
The president was very clearly referring to MS-13 gang members who enter the country illegally and whose deportations are hamstrung by our laws, this is one of the most vicious and deadly gangs that operates by the motto of ‘rape, control and kill.’ If the media and liberals want to defend MS-13, they’re more than welcomed to. Frankly, I don’t think the term that the president used was strong enough.
I personally find Holocaust denial deeply offensive, and I absolutely didn’t intend to defend the intent of people who deny that, of course if a post crossed a line into advocating for violence or hate against a particular group, it would be removed. … These issues are very challenging but I believe that often the best way to fight offensive bad speech is with good speech.
We're quite confident of our naval forces' ability to defend themselves, it seems they've attempted to destroy the equivalent of a Hollywood movie set.
That's what we should defend. The politicians, my job, is not to tell a newspaper what to publish or what not to publish. My job is to uphold the law that they can publish things that are within the law.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for defend
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- حمى, أجارArabic
- защитавам, браняBulgarian
- bránitCzech
- verteidigenGerman
- υπερασπίζομαι, αμύνομαι, υπεραμύνομαιGreek
- defenderSpanish
- puolustaaFinnish
- défendreFrench
- cosainIrish
- הגןHebrew
- difendereItalian
- 守る, 防ぐJapanese
- teneo, defendoLatin
- wawao, whakangunguMāori
- forsvare, verne, beskytteNorwegian
- bronićPolish
- proteger, defenderPortuguese
- apăraRomanian
- защитить, оборонять, беречь, защищать, оберегатьRussian
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"defend." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2021. Web. 26 Feb. 2021. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/defend>.