How to Use defense in a Sentence

defense

1 of 2 noun
Definition of defensenext
Synonyms for defensenext
  • The city's defenses were not strong enough to keep out the invaders.
  • They put up a good defense, but the city ultimately fell to the invaders.
  • They mounted a good defense.
  • We need to improve our defenses.
  • Johnson scored 13 of his points in the quarter, as the Raider defense seemed to tire out the Gators.
    — Mike Frainie, Baltimore Sun, 16 Feb. 2024
  • Hill pleaded not guilty and took the stand in his own defense.
    — Deena Zaru, ABC News, 20 Nov. 2023
  • Hunger weakens the body’s defenses and opens the door to disease.
    — NBC News, 21 Dec. 2023
  • For starters, Schwartz’s 4-3 base defense features the wide-9 technique for the edge rushers.
    — Irie Harris, cleveland, 20 July 2023
  • Each had a couple of tackles in the spring game and got reps with the second and third-team defenses.
    — oregonlive, 2 Aug. 2023
  • Beginning in at least the 1970s, the sea wall here had started to fail, and the Coast Guard threw down debris as a defense against the ocean.
    — Smithsonian Magazine, 10 July 2023
  • Whoopi Goldberg and Steve Martin both came to the comic’s defense.
    — Justin Hagey, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Jan. 2024
  • Mayo had called plays for the Patriots’ defense over the last two seasons, according to the AP.
    — Sean Neumann, Peoplemag, 12 Jan. 2024
  • Throughout the war, Wimbledon was used as a defense camp.
    — Town & Country, 8 July 2023
  • The Tritons rank second in the Big West in field goal percentage defense (41.1).
    — Ivan Carter, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Dec. 2023
  • Defensive outlook The Auburn defense left a lot to be desired in 2022.
    — Ainslie Lee | [email protected], al, 8 July 2023
  • The spike that’s opposite the sharp edge works well for defense as well as smashing holes in, well, anything that needs holes.
    — Jim Cobb, Field & Stream, 14 June 2023
  • Taking this tack is risky, said Louis Shapiro, a defense attorney not involved in the case.
    — Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 25 Jan. 2024
  • Teran and their friends drove to Maryville to link up with a group organizing drag defense.
    — Hilary Beaumont, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2023
  • But as her bandages were removed, with them, went all of her defenses.
    — Andrea Mandell, Peoplemag, 17 Apr. 2024
  • The Friday night service was scheduled to have prayers for the state of Israel, its defense forces and for all those held captive, as well as for peace.
    — Frank E. Lockwood, Arkansas Online, 14 Oct. 2023
  • The country then broke the taboo of sending weapons abroad, opting to help arm Ukraine and declaring a more than $1o0 billion special fund for defense.
    — Kate Brady, Washington Post, 14 June 2023
  • Starting with variables such as weather, crowd noise and a play clock, the QB must read a defense, and call and execute a play in seconds.
    — Indianapolis Star, The Indianapolis Star, 10 July 2023
  • For the second straight week, the Dallas defense will look to tee off against an offense led by a backup quarterback.
    — Sportsday Staff, Dallas News, 19 Sep. 2023
  • Both teams’ defenses were denying big plays, forcing the offenses to grind out yards and use up clock.
    — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2023
  • In eight years under Tsai, Taiwan has bolstered defense spending and strengthened ties with the U.S.
    — Stephanie Yang, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2023
  • And in the end, the city survived both those fights, mostly playing defense and collecting some bruises.
    — Brittany Carloni, The Indianapolis Star, 11 Mar. 2024
  • The Browns defense returned the favor on their first defensive series.
    — Tim Bielik, cleveland, 19 Sep. 2023
  • His defense attorney was not listed in public court records as of Feb. 16.
    — Lauren Liebhaber, Kansas City Star, 16 Feb. 2024
  • That leaves them well-equipped to play defense but lacking the numbers to advance a liberal agenda past Youngkin’s desk.
    — Teo Armus, Washington Post, 8 Nov. 2023
  • Ukraine has three Patriot air defense systems, but officials here say 26 are needed to cover the entire country.
    — Kostiantyn Khudov, Washington Post, 17 Apr. 2024
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defense

2 of 2 verb
  • The Rams would get the ball back but against the vaunted Packer defense their chances were slim.
    — Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2019
  • Among the concerns for the Aztecs coming into the game was how to defense Boise State’s quarterback(s).
    — Kirk Kenney, sandiegouniontribune.com, 15 Oct. 2017
  • Dom Ochoa, who made the move from quarterback to just defense this year.
    — Richard Obert, The Arizona Republic, 9 Sep. 2022
  • All-American, but the Gators moved the bulky lineman to defense.
    — Adam Lichtenstein, sun-sentinel.com, 28 Apr. 2021
  • Offense was the focus of Thursday’s session, defense the word of the day Friday.
    — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Feb. 2023
  • Lamb’s selection means the club won’t take another receiver over the next two days and tilts the balance to defense the rest of the way.
    — David Moore, Dallas News, 23 Apr. 2020
  • Major League Baseball has made the games faster, the bases bigger and defense a little bit harder.
    — David Brandt, oregonlive, 9 July 2023
  • Only then can defense attorneys and the public challenge the plan, Gilmer said.
    — Ken Ritter, Star Tribune, 20 May 2021
  • In fact, the alliance had long ago set a goal that each member would devote at least 2 percent of GDP to defense in their own budgets.
    — The Washington Post, Twin Cities, 17 Mar. 2017
  • The Lakers cut the lead to 10 in the third quarter and to 12 in the fourth, but no one other than Jordan Clarkson could give the surging Clippers defense any problems.
    — Dan Woike, Orange County Register, 14 Jan. 2017
  • The militia was to defense what trial by jury was to justice: safety in numbers.
    — TIME, 31 Jan. 2024
  • Forest counts themselves among the worst Premier League defenses away from home.
    — Nick Hennion, Chicago Tribune, 7 Apr. 2023
  • Remember that ghastly defense that kept the Wizards out of the playoffs last season and battled Cleveland for the last spot?
    — Chris Fedor, cleveland, 15 Mar. 2021
  • What does this mean for Kentucky’s defense moving forward?
    — Joe Mussatto, ajc, 30 Nov. 2017
  • Smith also led Minnesota in passes defensed as a true freshman and as a senior. 51.
    — Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Apr. 2023
  • These are some of the questions that defense attorneys asked a Yale University student who brought a rape complaint against her classmate.
    — Katie Reilly, Time, 9 Mar. 2018
  • Last year, Sutton set career-highs with three interceptions and 15 passes defensed in 16 games.
    — Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press, 16 Mar. 2023
  • Bethel had 16 tackles, an interception and four passes defensed on defense in his first year in Miami.
    — David Furones, Sun Sentinel, 24 Mar. 2023
  • Mickelson was not called to testify; his attorney had told both the prosecution and defense his client would invoke his Fifth Amendment rights.
    — Gene Wang, Washington Post, 15 May 2022
  • Gardner played all 17 games last season, recording two interceptions and a league-high 20 passes defensed en route to winning Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.
    — Nicole Yang, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Sep. 2023
  • Trump has called for massive hikes to defense spending and harsh cuts to domestic agencies in his 2018 budget, a proposal that many Republicans have rejected out of hand.
    — The Washington Post, The Denver Post, 28 Apr. 2017
  • Early in his college career, Barr played both running back and linebacker for the Bruins before transitioning fully to defense in his final two seasons.
    — Dallas News, 5 June 2022
  • Not exactly a stellar performance considering Ohio State scored 44 first-half points against a compromised version of that same Hoosiers defense two weeks earlier.
    — Nathan Baird, cleveland, 8 Nov. 2021
  • Junior Joe Brunner was named as an offensive and defensive lineman and senior Grover Bortolotti received distinction as a running back and defense back.
    — Mark Stewart, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 30 Nov. 2020
  • Gonzalez has the size and physical traits that make most scouts salivate, and the Colorado transfer answered most questions regarding his ball production (four interceptions and 11 passes defensed) in his only season in Eugene.
    — Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Apr. 2023
  • Teixeira did not testify and defense attorney Steve Sack presented no witnesses.
    — John Bacon, USA TODAY, 10 Dec. 2019
  • No wonder China is developing them to counter U.S. superiority in other areas, and he Pentagon is devoting so much effort to defense against such missiles, .
    — David Hambling, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2021
  • The Rams would get the ball back but against the vaunted Packer defense their chances were slim.
    — Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2019
  • Among the concerns for the Aztecs coming into the game was how to defense Boise State’s quarterback(s).
    — Kirk Kenney, sandiegouniontribune.com, 15 Oct. 2017
  • Dom Ochoa, who made the move from quarterback to just defense this year.
    — Richard Obert, The Arizona Republic, 9 Sep. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'defense.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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