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 closest Rockets defender, Reed Sheppard, could do nothing as James hammered another dunk. —Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2026

The 21-year-old defender has started in 23 of his 30 career appearances. —CBS News, 22 Mar. 2026

Even amid personal chaos, the coach sought out Sexton for individual conversations, pushing and prodding the eighth-year guard to challenge himself as a playmaker and defender. —Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 22 Mar. 2026

That situation was only made more tense given three of Colorado’s four defenders had a yellow card and two of them had hard fouls that could have resulted in a sending-off. —Braidon Nourse, Denver Post, 22 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