defence

American  

[dih-fens] / dɪˈfɛns /

noun

defenced, defencing

1. British. variant of defense.

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defence British  

/ dɪˈfɛns /

noun

1. resistance against danger, attack, or harm; protection

2. a person or thing that provides such resistance

3. a plea, essay, speech, etc, in support of something; vindication; justification

4. 1. a country's military measures or resources

   2. ( as modifier )

      defence spending

5. law a defendant's denial of the truth of the allegations or charge against him

6. law the defendant and his legal advisers collectively Compare prosecution

7. sport

   1. the action of protecting oneself, one's goal, or one's allotted part of the playing area against an opponent's attacks

   2. the method of doing this

   3. the players in a team whose function is to do this

8. American football (usually preceded by the)

   1. the team that does not have possession of the ball

   2. the members of a team that play in such circumstances

9. psychoanal See defence mechanism

10. (plural) fortifications

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Other Word Forms

• defenceable adjective
• defenceless adjective
• defencelessly adverb
• defencelessness noun
• predefence noun

Etymology

Origin of defence

C13: from Old French, from Late Latin dēfensum, past participle of dēfendere to _defend

Compare meaning

How does defence compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• offence vs. defence

Explanation

This word does NOT mean taking down a fence; it is the British spelling of "defense" — a word that means the act of protecting or defending. Wearing garlic around your neck might be your defence against vampires. Defence can be verbal as well as physical. If you're in court charged with a crime, you (and your lawyer, if you have one) are called "the defence." If your only defence is that you were sleepwalking when you robbed a gas station, you might be going away for awhile. If you play defence in a team sport, your main job is to keep the other team from scoring (so stay wide awake).

Example Sentences

Surprisingly, LypABC resembles a bacterial anti-phage immune system since it contains protein domains which are typically required for defence against viruses.

From Science Daily • Apr. 17, 2026

Ignorance, in other words, would not count as a defence.

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026

On Friday, lawyers for Roberts-Smith - who denies the claims - argued the "unprecedented" case will face long delays and ongoing imprisonment would prevent him being able to properly mount a defence.

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026

In a subsequent statement in Parliament, Defence Minister Luke Pollard insisted the government was "not waiting" on the investment plan to announce further defence projects, but was "working flat out to" get the document published.

From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026

The enforced passivity of their defence, the interminable waiting, became insupportable.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams