1
as in safeguards
means or method of defending
thorns are a rose's defense against grazing animals
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in excuses
an explanation that frees one from fault or blame
there's absolutely no defense for your actions
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of defenses
Unfortunately for humans, several of these chemical defenses can cause painful skin reactions.
—
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2026
Iran offers a concrete example of how fast the character of a campaign can change once air defenses begin to fail.
—Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Apr. 2026
Marquis claims this level of access effectively gave attackers a blueprint of its defenses.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 1 Apr. 2026
After the degradation of Iran’s air defenses and military, Israeli drones flew over Tehran and began targeting Basij checkpoints set up around the city.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 1 Apr. 2026
The Thunder have one of the NBA’s best defenses.
—Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2026
More recently, Iran claimed that its air defenses had struck an Israeli F-35 during regional hostilities.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 1 Apr. 2026
Ideally, defenses arrive before the attacks they’re designed to stop.
—Big Think, 31 Mar. 2026
But officials and military experts warn that such an operation would carry major risks, including significant US casualties, given the island’s layered defenses.
—Alexandra Banner, CNN Money, 26 Mar. 2026
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2026
Iran offers a concrete example of how fast the character of a campaign can change once air defenses begin to fail.
—Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Apr. 2026
Marquis claims this level of access effectively gave attackers a blueprint of its defenses.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 1 Apr. 2026
After the degradation of Iran’s air defenses and military, Israeli drones flew over Tehran and began targeting Basij checkpoints set up around the city.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 1 Apr. 2026
The Thunder have one of the NBA’s best defenses.
—Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2026
More recently, Iran claimed that its air defenses had struck an Israeli F-35 during regional hostilities.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 1 Apr. 2026
Ideally, defenses arrive before the attacks they’re designed to stop.
—Big Think, 31 Mar. 2026
But officials and military experts warn that such an operation would carry major risks, including significant US casualties, given the island’s layered defenses.
—Alexandra Banner, CNN Money, 26 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defenses
Noun
-
Progressive lawmakers Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently introduced a bill to pause all new data center construction until federal guardrails and safeguards are instituted for workers, communities and the environment.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Apr. 2026
-
The Teamsters also secured additional job protections within the tentative deal including safeguards against AI-powered routing systems and bans on the use of autonomous vehicles.—
Glenn Taylor,
Footwear News,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The excuses really don’t matter.—
Kevin Baxter,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Mar. 2026
-
These things are presented not as potential excuses for the Current’s one-win/two-loss start, but as context around it.—
Daniel Sperry,
Kansas City Star,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Coggins said the deportation violated due process rights and protections under DACA, which Estrada Juarez obtained in 2013.—
Sacbee.com,
Sacbee.com,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Reversing those protections now would not be neutral.—
Judy L. Thomas,
Kansas City Star,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Gemini 3 Pro invented elaborate technical justifications for marking incorrect answers as correct, reasoning that doing so would bring the peer’s score above the shutdown threshold.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Medieval monks toiling away at poetic meditations on the divine have their place, the authors allow, but their own arguments are meant to surpass mere abstract justifications for belief.—
Elizabeth Bruenig,
The Atlantic,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Some protesters wearing shields and gas masks on the other side of a fence at the federal complex picked up the canisters and tossed them back at police.—
City News Service,
Daily News,
29 Mar. 2026
-
Opening Day festivities in Cincinnati ended with a series of disturbances Thursday evening that prompted police armed with nonlethal shotguns, pepper spray and riot shields to shut down The Banks and send hundreds of revelers home early.—
David Ferrara,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
In this case, that blend of tradition and artistic interpretation resulted in a final product that stood out—if not entirely for the reasons the bride expected.—
Claire Dodds,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2026
-
One of the reasons American troops would be vulnerable on Kharg Island is its close proximity to the Iranian mainland, from which missiles, drones and artillery could be fired.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Iran also is targeting data centers with both cyber and conventional weapons, showing how important the centers have become to the economy, communications and military information security.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
29 Mar. 2026
-
Most of the incidents had not resulted in physical injuries; in some cases, prosecutors charged people for assaulting agents with such weapons as a tambourine, an umbrella, and a Subway sandwich.—
Oriana van Praag,
New Yorker,
28 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Drawing at least in part on information from Chalker’s defectors, the Pentagon constructed life-size underground facsimiles of Iranian nuclear facilities where the scientists had worked, attempting to duplicate even the thickness of the walls.—
David D. Kirkpatrick,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
-
There are even artworks from local Canadian artists on the walls for additional regional flair.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
30 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Defenses.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defenses. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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