defense

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The act of defending against attack, danger, or injury.
2. n. A means or method of defending or protecting.
3. n. Sports The act or an instance of defending a championship against a challenger: will box in his third defense of his title.
4. n. An argument in support or justification of something. See Synonyms at apology.
5. n. Law The action of the defendant in opposition to complaints against him or her.
6. n. Law The defendant and his or her legal counsel.
7. n. The science or art of defending oneself; self-defense.
8. n. Sports Means or tactics used in trying to stop the opposition from scoring.
9. n. Sports The team or those players on the team attempting to stop the opposition from scoring.
10. n. The military, governmental, and industrial complex, especially as it authorizes and manages weaponry production.
11. v. Sports To attempt to stop (the opposition) from scoring.
12. v. Sports To play defense against (an opponent); guard.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The act of shielding or guarding from attack or injury; the act of resisting an attack or assault.
2. n. The act of maintaining, supporting, or vindicating by force or argument.
3. n. Something that repels or guards against attack, violence, danger, or injury; a protection; a safeguard; a security; a fortification.
4. n. A speech or writing intended to repel or disprove a charge or an accusation; a vindication; an apology.
5. n. In law: The method adopted by a person against whom legal proceedings have been taken for defending himself against them. More specifically
6. n. The opposing or denial of the charge or cause of action, or of some essential element in it, as distinguished from opposition by a counter-claim.
7. n. Defiance; resistance; offense.
8. n. A prohibition.
9. n. The science of defending against attack by force of arms; skill in defending from danger by means of weapons or of the fists; specifically, fencing or boxing.
10. n. plural In heraldry, the natural weapons of an animal used as a bearing, as the tusks of a boar, or the like.
11. n. The distance from the salient of a bastion to the opposite flank.
12. n. A method or course to be pursued in conducting a defense of any kind.
13. To defend; protect; guard; shield; fortify.
14. To defend; vindicate; maintain.

Wiktionary

1. n. The action of defending or protecting from attack, danger, or injury.
2. n. Anything employed to oppose attack(s).
3. n. An argument in support or justification of something.
4. n. Government policy or structure related to the military.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The act of defending, or the state of being defended; protection, as from violence or danger.
2. n. That which defends or protects; anything employed to oppose attack, ward off violence or danger, or maintain security; a guard; a protection.
3. n. Protecting plea; vindication; justification.
4. n. (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. n. Act or skill in making defense; defensive plan or policy; practice in self defense, as in fencing, boxing, etc.
6. n. obsolete Prohibition; a prohibitory ordinance.
7. v. obsolete To furnish with defenses; to fortify.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. an organization of defenders that provides resistance against attack
2. n. (sports) the team that is trying to prevent the other team from scoring
3. n. the act of defending someone or something against attack or injury
4. n. protection from harm
5. n. the defendant and his legal advisors collectively
6. n. the justification for some act or belief
7. n. (psychiatry) an unconscious process that tries to reduce the anxiety associated with instinctive desires
8. n. the federal department responsible for safeguarding national security of the United States; created in 1947
9. n. a defendant's answer or plea denying the truth of the charges against him
10. n. the speech act of answering an attack on your assertions
11. n. a structure used to defend against attack
12. n. (military) military action or resources protecting a country against potential enemies