the speech act of answering an attack on your assertions; "his refutation of the charges was short and persuasive"; "in defense he said the other man started it"
a remote or indirect consequence of some action; "his declaration had unforeseen repercussions"; "reverberations of the market crash were felt years later"
the repetition of an experiment in order to test the validity of its conclusion; "scientists will not believe an experimental result until they have seen at least one replication"
(law) a pleading made by a plaintiff in reply to the defendant's plea or answer
(genetics) the process whereby DNA makes a copy of itself before cell division
a conflict of opposed ideas or attitudes or goals; "a collision of interests"
an accident resulting from violent impact of a moving object; "three passengers were killed in the collision"; "the collision of the two ships resulted in a serious oil spill"
(physics) an brief event in which two or more bodies come together; "the collision of the particles resulted in an exchange of energy and a change of direction"
protection from harm; "sanitation is the best defense against disease"
military action or resources protecting a country against potential enemies; "they died in the defense of Stalingrad"; "they were developed for the defense program"
a defendant's answer or plea denying the truth of the charges against him; "he gave evidence for the defense"
the justification for some act or belief; "he offered a persuasive defense of the theory"
an organization of defenders that provides resistance against attack; "he joined the defense against invasion"
the defendant and his legal advisors collectively; "the defense called for a mistrial"
(sports) the team that is trying to prevent the other team from scoring; "his teams are always good on defense"