Defence

//dɪˈfɛns//

Synonyms for "defence" (45 found)

Ranked by relevance and common usage.

Closest matches (9)

answer apology argument bulwark defending

Noun(4 words)

defence force defence mechanism defence reaction defending team

Strong matches (14)

defense defense mechanism defensive structure excuse

Noun(10 words)

defense defense force defense lawyers defense mechanism defense reaction defense team defensive measure defensive structure demurrer denial

Related words (22)

Related word relations

OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.

8 relation types

More general

20 entries

accumulation action aggregation answer assemblage collection construction due process due process of law justification military action organisation organization process protection psychoanalytic process

Showing 16 of 20 words.

Antonyms

3 entries

offence offense

Synonyms

13 entries

apology bulwark defending defense defense mechanism defensive structure excuse fortification guarding justification protection rampart refutation

derived

39 entries

Nuremberg defence Nuremberg defense Pac-Man defence Portsmouth defence Twinkie defence antidefence antidefense attack is the best form of defence biodefence civil defence defence accord defence diplomacy defence in depth defence lawyer defence mechanism defence-splitting

Showing 16 of 39 words.

distinct from

1 entries

attack

has context

2 entries

sports team

is a

1 entries

protection

related to

27 entries

argument attack danger defend defender defensible defensive department fortify furnish injury justification military offence oppose protect

Showing 16 of 27 words.

Sample sentences

19 total sentences available.

Tatoeba + Wiktionary

That's no good! You're tall so you've got to be in the forward defence.

Source: tatoeba (328094)

The threat increases; a defence that doesn't evolve is meaningless.

Source: tatoeba (328424)

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Source: tatoeba (433686)

Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.

Source: tatoeba (554675)

Showing 4 of 19 available sentences.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.