1
as in protects
to drive danger or attack away from
a solemn oath to defend the mother country at any cost
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in justifies
to continue to declare to be true or proper despite opposition or objections
she will pigheadedly defend any claim regardless of all evidence to the contrary
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of defends
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights organizes, educates, and defends immigrant communities, pairing on-the-ground support with an unflinching push for a more humane national policy.
—
Dev Patnaik, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026
Sins of Kujo, adapted from Shohei Manabe’s manga, casts Yuya Yagira as a morally ambiguous lawyer who defends society’s most reprehensible figures, a dark, adult-skewing legal drama.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 27 Jan. 2026
Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn defends the pursuit policy, while mayoral candidate Ald.
—Francesca Pica, jsonline.com, 26 Jan. 2026
Trump ally Johnson defends Arctic strategy to British lawmakers as tensions simmer.
—FOXNews.com, 20 Jan. 2026
Electronic Frontier Foundation, which describes itself as a nonprofit that defends digital privacy, free speech and innovation, previously said the bill is too vague in defining what counts as negligence by a social media company and could result in broad censorship.
—Linh Tat, Daily News, 13 Jan. 2026
In a 2025 prison interview included in the documentary, Young defends his treatments and denies making anyone sick or discouraging his patients from seeing their doctors.
—Alexandra Schonfeld, PEOPLE, 12 Jan. 2026
Virtually nobody defends it on the Democratic side right now.
—NBC news, 11 Jan. 2026
Reyes defends pay, confirms residency During the meeting, CBS News Miami asked about the nearly half-million-dollar salary attached to the position.
—Ivan Taylor, CBS News, 9 Jan. 2026
Dev Patnaik, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026
Sins of Kujo, adapted from Shohei Manabe’s manga, casts Yuya Yagira as a morally ambiguous lawyer who defends society’s most reprehensible figures, a dark, adult-skewing legal drama.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 27 Jan. 2026
Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn defends the pursuit policy, while mayoral candidate Ald.
—Francesca Pica, jsonline.com, 26 Jan. 2026
Trump ally Johnson defends Arctic strategy to British lawmakers as tensions simmer.
—FOXNews.com, 20 Jan. 2026
Electronic Frontier Foundation, which describes itself as a nonprofit that defends digital privacy, free speech and innovation, previously said the bill is too vague in defining what counts as negligence by a social media company and could result in broad censorship.
—Linh Tat, Daily News, 13 Jan. 2026
In a 2025 prison interview included in the documentary, Young defends his treatments and denies making anyone sick or discouraging his patients from seeing their doctors.
—Alexandra Schonfeld, PEOPLE, 12 Jan. 2026
Virtually nobody defends it on the Democratic side right now.
—NBC news, 11 Jan. 2026
Reyes defends pay, confirms residency During the meeting, CBS News Miami asked about the nearly half-million-dollar salary attached to the position.
—Ivan Taylor, CBS News, 9 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defends
Verb
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Grassley has argued that the practice protects checks and balances, encourages the White House to consult with senators, and prevents administrations of either party from jamming through prosecutors and judges who lack local support.—
Kaelan Deese,
The Washington Examiner,
27 Jan. 2026
-
The settlement agreement protects the anonymity of the affected youth and families while securing the withdrawal of the government’s demands for their medical records — and those of their fellow patients, Silver said.—
City News Service,
Daily News,
26 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Satisfy gets a lot of flack for its prices, but this running jacket justifies the price tag thanks to its effective modularity and (extremely) lightweight design.—
Will Porter,
Outside,
4 Jan. 2026
-
While there are legitimate concerns throughout the Midwest about future reliability due to new data centers and their substantial power consumption, there is no looming emergency that justifies the administration’s action here.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The Athletic maintains full editorial independence.—
Data Skrive,
New York Times,
8 Jan. 2026
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Gonzales has pleaded not guilty and his legal team maintains he's being scapegoated.—
Peter Charalambous,
ABC News,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The statement said Caldwell upholds the rights to peaceful assembly and free speech guaranteed in the First Amendment, and said Caldwell Police Department officers and other public safety agencies would be present.—
Shannon Tyler,
Idaho Statesman,
22 Jan. 2026
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The Foundation upholds Alfred Nobel’s will and its stipulations.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
18 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The simulator also supports different vehicle types.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
28 Jan. 2026
-
The Bluetooth chipset also supports multi-point pairing so that two devices can be connected at the same time.—
Mark Sparrow,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Defends.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defends. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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