defend

verb

(transitive) To ward off attacks against; to fight to protect; to guard.

(transitive) To support by words or writing; to vindicate, talk in favour of.

(transitive, law) To make legal defence of; to represent (the accused).

(sports) To focus one's energies and talents on preventing opponents from scoring, as opposed to focusing on scoring.

(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.

(cricket) Mostly in tests. The action of not putting force into hitting a shot, but to conserve energy and wear down bowlers so they can attack later.

(poker slang) To call a raise from the big blind.

(transitive, obsolete) To ward off, repel (an attack or attacker).

(transitive, obsolete) To prevent, to keep (from doing something).

(transitive, intransitive, obsolete) To prohibit, forbid.

Roots

defendo-fend · Latin · ward off, defend

Synonyms for defend

protectv guardn maintainv safeguardv fightn upholdv vindicatev fendv opposev assertv supportn championn fortifyv preservev shieldn

Synonyms & related words for defend

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of defend — including protect, guard, maintain, safeguard, fight, uphold. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to defend

Explore words related to defend — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include defense, defenders, undefended, hold, fencible, represent, protection, defensive. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for defend

Common synonyms for defend include protect, guard, maintain, safeguard, fight, uphold, vindicate, fend — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does defend come from?

The word defend breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root -fend, from Latin defendo (“ward off, defend”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.