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
The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses shot down 10 Ukrainian drones overnight around the compressor station in the Krasnodar region.
—
Hanna Arhirova, Chicago Tribune, 12 Mar. 2026
In 52 career regular-season games with the Bears, Brisker had 32 pass defenses, 7 sacks and four interceptions.
—Michael Guise, CBS News, 12 Mar. 2026
Sirens also sounded in Jerusalem, and explosions could be heard in Tel Aviv as Israel's air defenses worked to intercept barrages from Iran.
—Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, Arkansas Online, 11 Mar. 2026
Refueling capability critical for long-range B-21 bomber missions The B-21 Raider is the United States’ next-generation stealth bomber designed to penetrate advanced air defenses and deliver both conventional and nuclear weapons.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 11 Mar. 2026
While the official declined to specify the exact tactical help, Russia has used Shahed drones against Ukraine in waves, with multiple drones flying together and changing course regularly to elude air defenses.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 11 Mar. 2026
Jordanian air defenses intercepted a cluster of one-way attack drones headed to Oman, Caine said.
—Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 5 Mar. 2026
Meanwhile, Israel’s top general said waves of strikes had destroyed 80% of Iran’s air defenses and 60% of its missile launchers.
—Dallas Morning News, 5 Mar. 2026
On June 13, 2025, Jerusalem launched a wave of strikes that broke through Iranian air defenses and disrupted supply lines.
—Eric Cortellessa, Time, 5 Mar. 2026
Hanna Arhirova, Chicago Tribune, 12 Mar. 2026
In 52 career regular-season games with the Bears, Brisker had 32 pass defenses, 7 sacks and four interceptions.
—Michael Guise, CBS News, 12 Mar. 2026
Sirens also sounded in Jerusalem, and explosions could be heard in Tel Aviv as Israel's air defenses worked to intercept barrages from Iran.
—Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, Arkansas Online, 11 Mar. 2026
Refueling capability critical for long-range B-21 bomber missions The B-21 Raider is the United States’ next-generation stealth bomber designed to penetrate advanced air defenses and deliver both conventional and nuclear weapons.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 11 Mar. 2026
While the official declined to specify the exact tactical help, Russia has used Shahed drones against Ukraine in waves, with multiple drones flying together and changing course regularly to elude air defenses.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 11 Mar. 2026
Jordanian air defenses intercepted a cluster of one-way attack drones headed to Oman, Caine said.
—Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 5 Mar. 2026
Meanwhile, Israel’s top general said waves of strikes had destroyed 80% of Iran’s air defenses and 60% of its missile launchers.
—Dallas Morning News, 5 Mar. 2026
On June 13, 2025, Jerusalem launched a wave of strikes that broke through Iranian air defenses and disrupted supply lines.
—Eric Cortellessa, Time, 5 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defenses
Noun
-
Lawmakers and independent experts who spoke to NBC News raised alarm over the military’s use of such tools, calling for clear safeguards to ensure humans remain involved in life-or-death decisions on the battlefield.—
Kevin Collier,
NBC news,
11 Mar. 2026
-
Anthropic lost out on a $200 million Pentagon contract because its CEO refused Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s demands to remove the Anthropic chatbot Claude’s internal safeguards against spying on Americans and against launching weapons without human oversight.—
DP Opinion,
Denver Post,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
As the spotlight settles on each of them, that person unspools a monologue, a candid account of their origins, their desires and dreams, their galaxy of excuses and explanations.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
12 Mar. 2026
-
The people who should be as jaded as the players are the owners, who must tire of excuses from sporting directors and managers about the limited results all this capital expenditure is delivering.—
James Horncastle,
New York Times,
12 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Tapia warned that investors would face significant risks due to the lack of legal protections.—
Ivan Taylor,
CBS News,
18 Mar. 2026
-
Their letter is a sign of growing concerns on Capitol Hill about how AI companies are developing and using their models and whether proper protections are in place for those who generate the materials the models train from.—
Emily Wilkins,
CNBC,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Administration officials have offered various – and sometimes conflicting – justifications for the war, referencing Iran's growing ballistic missile program, its naval fleet, its network of terror proxy groups across the Middle East, and its nuclear ambitions.—
Claudia Grisales,
NPR,
10 Mar. 2026
-
And with legal, moral, and practical justifications so thin on the ground from the administration, whiplash has ruled the day.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
This extreme depth shields the detectors from cosmic rays and other background radiation that could obscure potential dark matter signals.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
18 Mar. 2026
-
Some are good for taking out enemy hordes, while others focus on lower shields to do more damage.—
Gieson Cacho,
Mercury News,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Founded by Thomas Edison, the American inventor of the electric lightbulb, the company was long an orphan in the GE corporate portfolio, kept more for sentimental reasons, some analysts believed, than commercial ones.—
Andy Browne,
semafor.com,
17 Mar. 2026
-
But even casual high school boys basketball fans in the western suburbs recognize the Wolves as a force to be reckoned with by going toe-to-toe against top programs in the state under the direction of Velasquez, who is stepping down for some very good personal reasons.—
Rick Armstrong,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
North Korea has long described the allies' drills as invasion rehearsals and often uses them as a pretext to dial up its own military demonstrations or weapons testing.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
15 Mar. 2026
-
The government wasn’t using autonomous weapons and claimed no mass-surveillance plans—but for a company to ask for those assurances in writing was to sign its own death warrant.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
New Yorker,
14 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Some apartments' outer walls had been stripped away.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
16 Mar. 2026
-
The track was built properly, with the fencing, the walls.—
Lawrence Dow,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
16 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Defenses.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defenses. Accessed 20 Mar. 2026.
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