defend

English Online Dictionary. What means defend‎? What does defend mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English defenden, from Old French defendre, deffendre (Modern French défendre), from Latin dēfendō (“to ward off”), from Proto-Italic *fendō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen-. Displaced native Old English bewerian.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈfɛnd/
• (US) IPA^(key): /dɪˈfɛnd/, /diˈfɛnd/, /dəˈfɛnd/
• Rhymes: -ɛnd

Verb

defend (third-person singular simple present defends, present participle defending, simple past and past participle defended)

1. (transitive) To ward off attacks against; to fight to protect; to guard.
2. (transitive) To support by words or writing; to vindicate, talk in favour of.
3. (transitive, law) To make legal defence of; to represent (the accused).
4. (sports) To focus one's energies and talents on preventing opponents from scoring, as opposed to focusing on scoring.
5. (sports) To attempt to retain a title, or attempt to reach the same stage in a competition as one did in the previous instance of that competition.
6. (poker slang) To call a raise from the big blind.
7. (transitive, obsolete) To ward off, repel (an attack or attacker).
8. (transitive, obsolete) To prevent, to keep (from doing something).
9. (transitive, intransitive, obsolete) To prohibit, forbid.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:defend

Antonyms

• attack

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

• fended