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Defend   /dɪfˈɛnd/   Listen
verb
Defend  v. t.  (past & past part. defended; pres. part. defending)  
1.
To ward or fend off; to drive back or away; to repel. (A Latinism & Obs.) "Th' other strove for to defend The force of Vulcan with his might and main."
2.
To prohibit; to forbid. (Obs.) "Which God defend that I should wring from him."
3.
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. "The lord mayor craves aid... to defend the city." "God defend the right!" "A village near it was defended by the river."
4.
(Law.) 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.
Synonyms: To Defend, Protect. To defend is literally to ward off; to protect is to cover so as to secure against approaching danger. We defend those who are attacked; we protect those who are liable to injury or invasion. A fortress is defended by its guns, and protected by its wall. "As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it." "Leave not the faithful side That gave thee being, still shades thee and protects."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Defend" Quotes from Famous Books



... conquest of it. Who does not remember the first time that he ever came upon a hen-partridge with her brood, as he was strolling through the woods in June? How splendidly the old bird forgets herself in her efforts to defend and hide her young! ...
— Fisherman's Luck • Henry van Dyke

... and expectations of the people: he owed it to the cause in which he was solemnly engaged, to the welfare of an infant confederacy, the safety of a newly organized constitution which he had pledged his honour to protect and defend, and a right given to him that was acknowledged to be just by the ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 17, No. - 480, Saturday, March 12, 1831 • Various

... chief: "Others there are the centre to defend, Th' Ajaces both, and Teucer, of the Greeks Best archer, good too in the standing fight; These may for Hector full employment find, Brave as he is, and eager for the fray; E'en for his courage 'twere a task too hard, Their might to conquer, and resistless hands, ...
— The Iliad • Homer

... his native country, eager for the approaching contest, pledged heart and hand to his exiled sovereign. In the troubles which broke out almost immediately on the death of the queen, he and his father took different sides; the old laird fortified his high tower, and prepared to defend it to the last, against the enemies of the House of Hanover. The young laird bade adieu to his beautiful wife, and attended by a band of his young clansmen, easily gained to aid a cause so romantic, he secretly left his duchess, and joined the army ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Volume 10, No. 279, October 20, 1827 • Various

... But one must defend one's country from her foes, and keep those who want to destroy the ...
— The Light Shines in Darkness • Leo Tolstoy


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