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 of defender

• 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

The Lakers star then passed to a hustling Austin Reaves, who took a few dribbles to get a Kings defender to commit before making an alley-oop pass to James for a two-handed, rim-hanging dunk. —Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 2 Mar. 2026

Dominguez had a great run through multiple defenders early in the second half but couldn’t connect with a teammate for a quality shot on goal. —Justin Vigil Zuniga, Daily News, 1 Mar. 2026

Houston defender Antônio Carlos was tagged with a red card in the second minute of stoppage time in a scoreless first half, forcing the Dynamo to play a man down from there. —CBS News, 1 Mar. 2026

After the public defender’s office, Romanucci worked at different firms before teaming up with Stephan Blandin to open their own shop. —Gregory Royal Pratt, Chicago Tribune, 1 Mar. 2026

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