defender

noun

de·​fend·​er di-ˈfen-dər 

1

: one that defends

2

: a player in a sport (such as football) assigned to a defensive position

Synonyms

• custodian
• guard
• guardian
• guardian angel
• protection
• protector

Examples of defender in a Sentence

one of the traditional roles of an older brother is that of schoolyard defender

Recent Examples on the Web

Their defenders were chasing him around screens with an extra level of ferocity. —Anthony Slater, The Athletic, 9 Feb. 2025

Mitchell, a skilled defender, was averaging 24.5 minutes in 44 games and 22 starts in Toronto. —Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 8 Feb. 2025

Vientos and Alonso don’t exactly rate high defensively, but Vientos made tremendous improvements last season when playing every day at the hot corner, and Alonso is a solid enough defender that the Mets don’t worry about first base. —Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 8 Feb. 2025

Clark was among the many defenders that wanted to have a bounce back year after TCU struggled mightily in 2023 under Joe Gillespie. —Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English defendour, defender, borrowed from Anglo-French defendour, defendur, from defend-, stem of defendre "to defend" + -our, -ur -or entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing defender

• public defender

Kids Definition

defender

noun

de·​fend·​er -ˈfen-dər 

1

: one that defends

2

: a player in a sport (as football) who plays a defensive position

Legal Definition

defender

noun

de·​fend·​er

: a lawyer who represents defendants

especially : public defender