View synonyms for self-defense

self-defense

[ self-di-fens, self- ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

the act of defending one's person when physically attacked, as by countering blows or overcoming an assailant:
the art of self-defense.
a claim or plea that the use of force or injuring or killing another was necessary in defending one's own person from physical attack:
He shot the man who was trying to stab him and pleaded self-defense at the murder trial.
an act or instance of defending or protecting one's own interests, property, ideas, etc., as by argument or strategy.

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First recorded in 1645–55

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I went into the audition as Fericito, the Venezuelan percussionist, and then I did a self-defense expert.

The fliers, Ancona explained, are meant to educate people on what rights they legally have to use lethal force in self-defense.

Exceptions are granted for self-defense, or when the U.N. Security Council specifically authorizes it.

The modern air forces built by autocratic Arab monarchies are designed primarily for self-defense, not attack.

She said she believes Wilson acted in self-defense, but if she were convinced otherwise, she would close down her support group.

And he was so infernally insistent about it, that she was forced to pull up and get away from the post in self-defense.

We did not wish to shoot them, but they forced us to do so in self-defense.

Yet, after all, despite his vow to his father, this had been actual self-defense.

It was only those directly at Red's back who saw the swift play, and to their eyes it bore the seeming of self-defense.

These men depended upon making a case of self-defense, and looked to him to see them through.

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