public defender

noun

: a lawyer usually holding public office whose duty is to defend accused persons unable to pay for legal assistance

Examples of public defender in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The indictment was returned by a grand jury in June, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, but proceedings against Ortiz had been delayed for months after her public defender declared a doubt in May about her mental health. — James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2026

In addition to familiar faces from Season 1, he’ll be joined by series newcomers Tommy Lee Jones and Betty Gilpin, who respectively play his estranged father and a public defender who enters his orbit. — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 30 Sep. 2026

His public defender, Michelle Marie Benoit, on Friday said that since June 2024, doctors treating Pinkney daily in custody had diagnosed him with schizophrenia. — Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 25 Sep. 2026

On the day of Kirk’s murder, Fisher was scheduled to work in the school’s criminal-defense clinic, which enlists law students to serve as public defenders in Lubbock County. — Benjamin Wofford, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1822, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for public defender

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

Legal Definition

public defender

noun

: a lawyer usually holding public office who represents criminal defendants unable to pay for legal assistance