| / English Dictionary |
DEFENSE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of defending someone or something against attack or injury
Example:
defense against hurricanes is an urgent problem
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("defense" is a kind of...):
protection (the activity of protecting someone or something)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Protection from harm
Example:
sanitation is the best defense against disease
Synonyms:
defence; defense
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("defense" is a kind of...):
protection (the activity of protecting someone or something)
Sense 3
Meaning:
(military) military action or resources protecting a country against potential enemies
Example:
they were developed for the defense program
Synonyms:
defence; defense; defensive measure
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("defense" is a kind of...):
action; military action (a military engagement)
Domain category:
armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "defense"):
umbrella (a formation of military planes maintained over ground operations or targets)
air defense (defensive measures designed to destroy attacking enemy aircraft or missiles or to nullify their effectiveness)
stand (a defensive effort)
hasty defence; hasty defense (a defense organized while in contact with the enemy or when time is limited)
deliberate defence; deliberate defense (a defense organized before contact is made with the enemy and while time for organization is available; usually includes a fortified zone (with pillboxes) and communication systems)
biodefence; biodefense; biological defence; biological defense (procedures involved in taking defensive measures against attacks using biological agents)
chemical defence; chemical defense (procedures involved in taking defensive measures against attacks using chemical agents)
minelaying; mining (laying explosive mines in concealed places to destroy enemy personnel and equipment)
biological warfare defence; biological warfare defense; BW defence; BW defense (defense against biological warfare)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A defendant's answer or plea denying the truth of the charges against him
Example:
he gave evidence for the defense
Synonyms:
defence; defense; demurrer; denial
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("defense" is a kind of...):
due process; due process of law ((law) the administration of justice according to established rules and principles; based on the principle that a person cannot be deprived of life or liberty or property without appropriate legal procedures and safeguards)
Domain category:
jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "defense"):
entrapment (a defense that claims the defendant would not have broken the law if not tricked into doing it by law enforcement officials)
Holonyms ("defense" is a part of...):
trial ((law) the determination of a person's innocence or guilt by due process of law)
Antonym:
prosecution (the institution and conduct of legal proceedings against a defendant for criminal behavior)
Sense 5
Meaning:
A structure used to defend against attack
Example:
the artillery battered down the defenses
Synonyms:
defence; defense; defensive structure
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("defense" is a kind of...):
construction; structure (a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "defense"):
cheval-de-frise; chevaux-de-frise (defensive structure consisting of a movable obstacle composed of barbed wire or spikes attached to a wooden frame; used to obstruct cavalry)
fortification; munition (defensive structure consisting of walls or mounds built around a stronghold to strengthen it)
fort; fortress (a fortified defensive structure)
line of defence; line of defense (defensive structure consisting of a barrier that can be employed for defense against attack)
outwork (subsidiary defensive structure lying outside the main fortified area)
fastness; stronghold (a strongly fortified defensive structure)
Sense 6
Meaning:
The justification for some act or belief
Example:
he offered a persuasive defense of the theory
Synonyms:
defence; defense; vindication
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("defense" is a kind of...):
justification (a statement in explanation of some action or belief)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "defense"):
alibi; exculpation; excuse; self-justification (a defense of some offensive behavior or some failure to keep a promise etc.)
alibi ((law) a defense by an accused person purporting to show that he or she could not have committed the crime in question)
apologia; apology (a formal written defense of something you believe in strongly)
Sense 7
Meaning:
The speech act of answering an attack on your assertions
Example:
in defense he said the other man started it
Synonyms:
defence; defense; refutation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("defense" is a kind of...):
answer (the speech act of replying to a question)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "defense"):
confutation (the speech act of refuting conclusively)
rebuttal (the speech act of refuting by offering a contrary contention or argument)
Sense 8
Meaning:
An organization of defenders that provides resistance against attack
Example:
he joined the defense against invasion
Synonyms:
defence; defence force; defense; defense force
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("defense" is a kind of...):
organisation; organization (a group of people who work together)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "defense"):
bastion (a group that defends a principle)
Sense 9
Meaning:
The defendant and his legal advisors collectively
Example:
the defense called for a mistrial
Synonyms:
defence; defense; defense lawyers; defense team
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("defense" is a kind of...):
accumulation; aggregation; assemblage; collection (several things grouped together or considered as a whole)
Antonym:
prosecution (the lawyers acting for the state to put the case against the defendant)
Sense 10
Meaning:
(sports) the team that is trying to prevent the other team from scoring
Example:
his teams are always good on defense
Synonyms:
defence; defending team; defense
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("defense" is a kind of...):
squad; team (a cooperative unit (especially in sports))
Domain category:
athletics; sport (an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition)
Antonym:
offense (the team that has the ball (or puck) and is trying to score)
Sense 11
Meaning:
The federal department responsible for safeguarding national security of the United States; created in 1947
Synonyms:
Defense; Defense Department; Department of Defense; DoD; United States Department of Defense
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("Defense" is a kind of...):
executive department (a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States)
Meronyms (parts of "Defense"):
Casualty Care Research Center; CCRC (an agency in the Department of Defense that is a national center for research on all aspects of injury control and casualty care)
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; NGA (a combat support agency that provides geographic intelligence in support of national security)
Defense Information Systems Agency; DISA (a combat support agency in the Department of Defense responsible for developing and operating and supporting information systems to serve the needs of the President and the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff)
Ballistic Missile Defense Organization; BMDO (an agency in the Department of Defense that is responsible for making ballistic missile defense a reality)
Army; U. S. Army; United States Army; US Army; USA (the army of the United States of America; the agency that organizes and trains soldiers for land warfare)
National Security Agency; NSA (the United States cryptologic organization that coordinates and directs highly specialized activities to protect United States information systems and to produce foreign intelligence information)
National Reconnaissance Office; NRO (an intelligence agency in the United States Department of Defense that designs and builds and operates space reconnaissance systems to detect trouble spots worldwide and to monitor arms control agreements and environmental issues and to help plan military operations)
Defense Technical Information Center; DTIC (the agency in the Department of Defense that provides scientific and technical information to federal agencies and their contractors)
Defense Logistics Agency (a logistics combat support agency in the Department of Defense; provides worldwide support for military missions)
Defense Intelligence Agency; DIA (an intelligence agency of the United States in the Department of Defense; is responsible for providing intelligence in support of military planning and operations and weapons acquisition)
Air Force; U. S. Air Force; United States Air Force; US Air Force; USAF (the airforce of the United States of America; the agency that defends the United States through control and exploitation of air and space)
Navy; United States Navy; US Navy; USN (the navy of the United States of America; the agency that maintains and trains and equips combat-ready naval forces)
Department of Defense Laboratory System; LABLINK (a defense laboratory that provides essential services in fundamental science for national security and environmental protection and provides technologies that contribute to industrial competitiveness)
DARPA; Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (the central research and development organization for the United States Department of Defense; responsible for developing new surveillance technologies since 9/11)
Sense 12
Meaning:
(psychiatry) an unconscious process that tries to reduce the anxiety associated with instinctive desires
Synonyms:
defence; defence mechanism; defence reaction; defense; defense mechanism; defense reaction
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural processes
Hypernyms ("defense" is a kind of...):
process; unconscious process (a mental process that you are not directly aware of)
psychoanalytic process (a process that is assumed to occur in psychoanalytic theory)
Domain category:
psychiatry; psychological medicine; psychopathology (the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "defense"):
repression ((psychiatry) the classical defense mechanism that protects you from impulses or ideas that would cause anxiety by preventing them from becoming conscious)
regression ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism in which you flee from reality by assuming a more infantile state)
reaction formation ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism in which a person unconsciously develops attitudes and behavior that are the opposite of unacceptable repressed desires and impulses and serve to conceal them)
rationalisation; rationalization ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism by which your true motivation is concealed by explaining your actions and feelings in a way that is not threatening)
projection ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism by which your own traits and emotions are attributed to someone else)
isolation ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism in which memory of an unacceptable act or impulse is separated from the emotion originally associated with it)
intellectualisation; intellectualization ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism that uses reasoning to block out emotional stress and conflict)
idealisation; idealization ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism that splits something you are ambivalent about into two representations--one good and one bad)
displacement ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism that transfers affect or reaction from the original object to some more acceptable one)
denial ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism that denies painful thoughts)
conversion ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism represses emotional conflicts which are then converted into physical symptoms that have no organic basis)
compensation ((psychiatry) a defense mechanism that conceals your undesirable shortcomings by exaggerating desirable behaviors)
Context examples:
This gene plays a role in the viral defense response.
(APOBEC3F Gene, NCI Thesaurus)
Your body's natural defenses can usually take it from there.
(Antibiotics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
This protein is involved in both defense against gram-negative bacterial infections and lipopolysaccharide binding.
(Bactericidal Permeability-Increasing Protein, NCI Thesaurus)
This protein is involved in autophagy, apoptosis and host defense.
(Beclin-1, NCI Thesaurus)
This protein is involved in the cytotoxic and microbicidal activity of the innate host defense system.
(Beta-Defensin 103, NCI Thesaurus)
This allele, which encodes beclin-1 protein, plays a role in both the regulation of both autophagy and apoptosis and the mediation of the host defense against viral infection.
(BECN1 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)
This gene plays a role in immunity/defense and the positive regulation of cell proliferation.
(CD3E Gene, NCI Thesaurus)
This gene is involved in development and immunity/defense.
(CD3G Gene, NCI Thesaurus)
This transcription factor is involved in cellular antioxidant defense and beta-globin activity modulation.
(Nuclear Factor Erythroid 2-Related Factor 2, NCI Thesaurus)
This gene is involved in the cell immunity/defense.
(NOS2C Gene, NCI Thesaurus)
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