defender

noun

de·​fend·​er di-ˈfen-dər 

1

: one that defends

2

: a player in a sport (such as football) assigned to a defensive position

Synonyms

• guardian
• custodian
• protector
• protection
• bodyguard

Examples of defender in a Sentence

one of the traditional roles of an older brother is that of schoolyard defender

Recent Examples on the Web

Not only does Jones give the Yankees a better defender than Stanton, but his bat has been on fire in Triple-A. —Aaliyan Mohammed, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Aug. 2025

This is a profile Liverpool have been looking to recruit for a number of seasons, unsuccessfully pursuing his fellow defenders Levi Colwill (now at Chelsea), Leny Yoro (Manchester United) and Dean Huijsen (Real Madrid). —Andy Jones, New York Times, 22 Aug. 2025

Senior goalkeeper Matthew Beaudoin, senior midfielder William Khazen and junior defender Julian Mehra also have experience. —Matt Le Cren, Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 2025

Correa scored the lone goal for Tigres in the 67th minute, getting past Miami defender Gonzalo Lujan. —Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 21 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English defendour, defender, borrowed from Anglo-French defendour, defendur, from defend-, stem of defendre "to defend" + -our, -ur -or entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing defender

• public defender

Rhymes for defender

• bartender
• contender
• engender
• extender
• offender
• pretender
• provender
• surrender
• suspender
• transgender
• bender
• blender

Kids Definition

defender

noun

de·​fend·​er -ˈfen-dər 

1

: one that defends

2

: a player in a sport (as football) who plays a defensive position

Legal Definition

defender

noun

de·​fend·​er

: a lawyer who represents defendants

especially : public defender