Meaning of defend In English

• 0 to protect someone or something against attack or criticism; to speak in favour of someone or something:

  • How can we defend our homeland if we don't have an army?

  • White blood cells help defend the body against infection.

  • They are fighting to defend their beliefs/interests/rights.

  • He vigorously defended his point of view.

  • The president was asked how he could defend (= explain his support for) a policy that increased unemployment.

  • I'm going to karate lessons to learn how to defend myself.

  • UK The Bank of England intervened this morning to defend the pound (= stop it from losing value).

• 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 :

  • I can't afford a lawyer, so I shall defend myself (= argue my own case in a court of law).

• 2 to compete in a sports competition that you won before and try to win it again:

  • He will defend his 1,500 metre title this weekend.

  • The defending champion will play her first match of the tournament tomorrow.

  • In the last ten minutes of the game, we needed to defend.

• 3 to protect someone or something from attack or harm:

  • Communities will fight to defend themselves.

  • How can people best defend themselves against disease?

  • She defended her husband against the accusations.

• 4 (in sports) to try to prevent the opposition from scoring points in a competition, or to guard a goal or other position:

  • [ I ] Jones is a difficult player to defend against.

• 5 to protect someone or something against attack, criticism, or loss:

  • defend sth/yourself against sth The company has been defending itself against a takeover bid.

  • The unions accused the government of not doing enough to defend jobs.

  • defend your decision/actions

• 6 to take action to stop a currency from losing value:

  • The Bank of England stepped in today to defend the pound.

• 7 to be the lawyer speaking for a person or organization in a court of law, or speaking about a particular case:

  • The accused CEO was defended by one of the country's leading lawyers.

  • The attorney general, whose office defended the case on behalf of the Department of Public Safety, said he anticipates an appeal.

• 8 if you defend a legal case against you, you arrange for it to be discussed in a court of law:

  • If you want to defend a claim against you, you have 30 days to file a Statement of Reply with the Tribunal.