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 same capability that let a model find a zero-day and chain it into a breach can let a defender find that same zero-day first and patch it. — Ashish Bhatia, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2026

Janssens would be one of those defenders playing in front of Suzuki in a new environment. — Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2026

However, on the touchdown run against Tampa Bay, Allen showed his explosiveness by running away from defenders on the outside. — Antwan Staley, New York Daily News, 18 Aug. 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