0 past simple and past participle of defend
1 to protect someone or something against attack or criticism; to speak in favour of someone or something:
2 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 :
3 to compete in a sports competition that you won before and try to win it again:
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.
A coercive pattern as compared to a defended pattern did not significantly predict disruptive behavior in the regression analyses.
Few studies exist that have investigated the relationship between a defended pattern and disruptive behavior.
Because children using a defended strategy deemphasize problems, they are unlikely to display disruptive behaviors.