Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use defence in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Defence means the action of defending, of protecting from attack, danger or injury. Example: “It is no defence to plead that you were only obeying orders.”

Examples of defence by meaning

nounSomething used to oppose attacks.

  • As governments and health officials continue to flip-flop on vaccine age requirements, and anti-vaxxers spread falsehoods through social media and protests, the vaxxie might just be a powerful line of defence against vaccine hesitancy.2021 July 28, Louise Grimmer, Gary Mortimer, Martin Grimmer, “Vaccine selfies may seem trivial, but they show people doing their civic duty...

nounAn argument in support or justification of something.

  • In Hodgson's defence, it must be stated that in large parts this was a vibrant, energetic performance with the emphasis almost exclusively on attack.2016 June 11, Phil McNulty, “England 1-1 Russia”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 24 May 2024

nounA strategy and tactics employed to prevent the other team from scoring; contrasted with offence.

  • But the Danes remained resolute in defence - largely thanks to a spirited display by captain Daniel Agger - and they went ahead with their first meaningful attack.2012 June 9, Owen Phillips, “Euro 2012: Netherlands 0-1 Denmark”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 09 Sep 2025

nounThe portion of a team dedicated to preventing the other team from scoring; contrasted with offence.

  • His ability to run at defences is instantly striking, but it is his clever use of possession that has persuaded some shrewd judges that he is an even better prospect than Theo Walcott.2011 November 10, Jeremy Wilson, “England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report”, in The Telegraph, archived from the original on 05...

nounGovernment policy or (infra)structure related to the military.

  • Department of Defence

More sentences with defence

  • It is no defence to plead that you were only obeying orders.From the entry plead
  • It became clear that future defence investment plans would have to confront a riskier world.From the entry dip
  • The NATO ministerial was attended by the defence ministers of all member states.From the entry ministerial
  • The infield defence has moved to double play depth on the pitcher's count.From the entry pitcher's count
  • With her thesis defence coming up, she is completely stressed out.From the entry stress out
  • He works for the ministry of defence.From the entry ministry
  • Figo is toying with the English defence.From the entry toy
  • The jury concurs with the case put forward by the defence lawyer, that the defendant is undoubtedly innocent.From the entry concur
  • The country recognized their defence vulnerability after an airplane landed in front of the central square without any consequences.From the entry vulnerability
  • The tired France were unable to break down the German defence, so they brought on some fresh legs.From the entry fresh legs
  • The thesis is that to improve further the lines of defence against financial instability we should strengthen the macroprudential orientation of the regulatory and supervisory framework.From the entry macroprudential
  • "They have 5-10 years to stand on their own two feet in terms of conventional defence capabilities."2026 February 16, Katya Adler, Trump's new world order has become real and Europe is having to adjust fast, BBC. From the entry yesterday
  • Ripping out the poison of antisemitism, restoring trust on the economy, defence, and national security.2026 June 22, Keir Starmer, resignation speech. From the entry rip out
  • Apart from that, it was England’s attack against Latvia’s massed defence.2025 March 24, David Hytner, “Reece James bends it like Beckham to help England break down Latvia”, in The Guardian, archived from the…. From the entry get the memo
  • The EU is also now trying to put the European defence industry on to a war footing.2023 September 30, Patrick Wintour, “‘No turning back’: how the Ukraine war has profoundly changed the EU”, in The Guardian, →ISSN. From the entry war footing
  • Mbappé and Neymar were a gruesome twosome for any defence to come up against.2023, Lars Sivertsen, Haaland. From the entry gruesome twosome
  • Collectively, these groups constitute the regiments of the red-squirrelian defence force.2023, Peter Coates, Squirrel Nation: Reds, Greys and the Meaning of Home, page 177. From the entry squirrelian
  • The number six adds additional defensive cover, balance, screening and protection just ahead of the central defence.2022 February 12, “Number six position in football”, in Premier League. From the entry number six
  • Within hours this had been subjected to footballification and a defence of the PM had been invented.2022 June 6, John Nicholson, “Raging royalism is just another example of footballification: Do you support Queen FC?”, in Football 365. From the entry footballification
  • What if England's defence is finally examined to the full by class opposition at the Euros?2021 March 31, Phil McNulty, “England 2-1 Poland: What shape are Gareth Southgate's side in?”, in BBC Sport. From the entry watertight
  • A pa or Māori defence fortification appears at a height on the hill above the bay.2020, Sujit Sivasundaram, Waves Across the South, William Collins, published 2021, page 68. From the entry pa
  • It was stopped dead in its tracks by a belligerent Springboks defence that simply refused to yield.2019 November 3, Liam de Carme, “Boks, you beauties”, in Sunday Times. From the entry belligerent
  • Nematocysts or stinging cells are specialised organelles which act for defence and offence of Hydra.2019, 26 Years' Chapterwise Solved Papers AIIMS Specialist Biology, page 29. From the entry hypnotoxin
  • We focus in this text on animal defences, but aposematism may apply in other groups.2018, Graeme D. Ruxton, William L. Allen, Thomas N. Sherratt, Michael P. Speed, “Aposematism”, in Avoiding Attack: The Evolutionary…. From the entry aposematism
  • Soon after, Charlie Mulgrew's aimless ball out of defence fell to Dembele, who gave it to Hazard.2018 September 7, Tom English, “Scotland 0-4 Belgium”, in BBC Sport. From the entry slip in
  • Defence spending, as promised last week, is headed for a $54bn boost.2017 March 1, Anthony Zurcher, “Trump addresses Congress: A kinder, gentler president”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 05 Jun…. From the entry whopping
  • Hypervalues are appealed to in defence of these secondary values, but they themselves have no further appeal.2016, Oscar Tranvag, Oddgeir Synnes, Wilfred McSherry, Arthur W. Frank, Ann Gallagher, Stories of Dignity Within Healthcare, M & K Update…. From the entry hypervalue
  • For Defra, funding for flood defences and disease prevention are likely to be protected.2015 November 11, Emma Howard, “Defra hit by largest budget cuts of any UK government department, analysis shows”, in The Guardian. From the entry Defra
  • Extra-Factual Information (EFI) can influence the development and conduct of state foreign and defence policies.2014 May 19, Stefan Borg, “Propaganda: “Better than the Truth – Extra Factual Sources of Threat Conception and Proliferation””, in…. From the entry extra-factual
  • Most of his work involves gamecraft – dealing with through balls, distribution and organising the defence.2014, Alex Welsh, The Soccer Goalkeeping Handbook 3rd Edition, page 117. From the entry gamecraft
  • On the flip-side, they could conceivably have lost because of their various shortcomings in defence.14 August 2013, Daniel Taylor, “Rickie Lambert's debut goal gives England victory over Scotland”, in The Guardian. From the entry shortcoming
  • Conveniently for the defence, it’s dragging out and our nerves are getting frayed.2013, Lisa Bonavita, Secrets Exposed: When Remaining Silent Is No Longer an Option, →ISBN, page 50. From the entry drag out
  • As former secretary of defence Bob Gates has said, we won't buy the same horse twice.2013 March 12, Chris McGreal, “US dismissive of 'bellicose rhetoric' after North Korea nullifies armistice”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor…. From the entry buy the same horse twice
  • And the Leeds defence, led by the impressive Alex Bruce, was also in determined mood.2011 January 8, Chris Bevan, “Arsenal 1 – 1 Leeds”, in BBC Sport. From the entry scramble
  • That meant a reshuffle to the visitors' defence who were the busier in a lacklustre first half.2011 January 18, David Dulin, “Cardiff 0 - 2 Stoke”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 19 Mar 2011. From the entry reshuffle

Meaning of defence

  1. noun The action of defending, of protecting from attack, danger or injury.
  2. noun Something used to oppose attacks.
  3. noun An argument in support or justification of something.

Full definition of defence

Questions about defence in a sentence

How do you use defence in a sentence?
Defence is used as a noun and verb. For example: “It is no defence to plead that you were only obeying orders.”
What is a short sentence with defence?
“Department of Defence”
What does defence mean?
Defence means the action of defending, of protecting from attack, danger or injury.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: defence (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use defence in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/defence. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.