0 to protect someone or something against attack or criticism; to speak in favour of someone or something:
1 to act as a lawyer for someone who has been accused of something in a court of law and try to prove that they are not guilty :
2 to compete in a sports competition that you won before and try to win it again:
4 (in sports) to try to prevent the opposition from scoring points in a competition, or to guard a goal or other position:
5 to protect someone or something against attack, criticism, or loss:
7 to be the lawyer speaking for a person or organization in a court of law, or speaking about a particular case:
8 if you defend a legal case against you, you arrange for it to be discussed in a court of law:
All the police officers were equipped with shields to defend themselves against the rioters.
A female lion defends her young ferociously.
Instead of defending traditional values, the church frequently seems weak-kneed and irresolute.
In the past, the party would have closed ranks around its leader and defended him loyally.
Exploitive agents endowed with the ability to interact selectively succeed in defending against invasion because they induce a highly non-interactive world.
The normative component of our arguments defends the use of these constraints as consistent with, or even inherent in, deliberation.
He defended his arguments with examples from the lives of legendary and historical heroines, with supporting citations from an array of ancient and modern writers.
