DEFENSES Synonyms: 52 Similar and Opposite Words

defenses

noun

plural of defense

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

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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of defenses Such a move would mark a significant expansion of Moscow and Pyongyang’s military cooperation and comes as Ukraine is running painfully short of air defenses. — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026 The United States has about 28,500 forces stationed in South Korea to bolster the country's defenses — a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty. — CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026 To overwhelm Russian air defenses, the operation would need to send as many as 1,000 drones a night to airports in and around Moscow, said one of the sources familiar with it. — Simon Shuster, The Atlantic, 20 Aug. 2026 From 2022 to 2024, Lewis was the mastermind of Alabama State’s defenses that once rivaled the Rattlers atop the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision and the Southwestern Athletic Conference. — Gerald Thomas Iii, Miami Herald, 20 Aug. 2026 The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses shot down 726 drones overnight over a number of Russian regions, annexed Crimea and the Black and Azov seas, in one of Ukraine’s biggest aerial attacks of the war. — Samya Kullab, Los Angeles Times, 20 Aug. 2026 To find out whether an AI is capable of harming a real network, evaluators need to give it a realistic network—multiple machines, defenses, and sometimes connections that resemble the real internet. — Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 20 Aug. 2026 Having a quarterback with limited mobility takes away a threat defenses need to account for. — Cameron Teague Robinson, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026 The Chiefs’ running game was so listless that defenses ignored fake handoffs and instead retreated to defend the pass, knowing the consequences of guessing wrong weren’t all that punishing anyway. — Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 20 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for defenses

Noun

Last week, Flock Safety's CEO announced safeguards in response to misuse concerns around the country.

— Tammy Mutasa, CBS News, 21 Aug. 2026
Board member Jackie Traynere, the chair of the Transportation Committee, said the County Board members will continue to look at safeguards for the Flock cameras and notify municipalities of any amendments to their existing agreements.

— Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of safeguards

Noun

But the fate of Mangione’s state case, set to go to trial next month, now hangs in the balance as his attorneys seek to get second-degree murder and weapons charges dismissed over double jeopardy protections.

— Kara Scannell, CNN Money, 15 Aug. 2026
Compared with federal law and that of other states, New York has uncommonly strong protections for defendants facing multiple prosecutions — though they are not guaranteed.

— ABC News, ABC News, 15 Aug. 2026

Definition of protections

Noun

At the center lies carceral safety politics—logics that turn fears of violence into justifications for punitive responses.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 Aug. 2026
His shows were cancelled for what writers for Ynet and Haaretz considered questionable reasons, among them alleged pressure from Netanyahu’s allies, although the networks involved named other justifications, including financial ones.

— Bernard Avishai, New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of justifications

Noun

Ivan was married, with two children, and worked as the curator of a small museum that collected artifacts from the eastern highlands, like masks and shields.

— Rachel Aviv, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026
These troops generally fought with swords and shields, using a method of warfare that involved rapid movement and raids.

— Tamanna Nangia, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of shields

Noun

Such weapons are proving increasingly difficult for Kyiv to shoot down, with supplies of US Patriot interceptors – one of the few systems capable of taking down ballistic missiles pretty much exhausted.

— Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026
Some still laden with weapons, the ships belonged to Nazi Germany's Black Sea fleet that was deliberately sunk near the end of the war as German troops retreated from Romania and Soviet forces advanced deeper into Europe.

— CBS News, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of weapons

Noun

Plywood shelves lined the walls, their planks bowed in the middle.

— Madhuri Vijay, New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2026
Attesting to his labor is an ovoid pavilion at the exhibition’s center recreating Brancusi’s studio, chock-a-block with his myriad tools and flanked by walls on both sides bearing letters, photographs, and archival items.

— Ara H. Merjian, ARTnews.com, 16 Aug. 2026