be the defense counsel for someone in a trial; " Ms. Smith will represent the defendant"

argue or speak in defense of; " She supported the motion to strike"

state or assert; " He maintained his innocence"

fight against or resist strongly; " The senator said he would oppose the bill"; " Don't fight it!"

be on the defensive; act against an attack

protect against a challenge or attack; " Hold that position behind the trees!"; " Hold the bridge against the enemy's attacks"

To ward or fend off; to drive back or away; to repel.

To repel danger or harm from; to protect; to secure against; attack; to maintain against force or argument; to uphold; to guard; as, to defend a town; to defend a cause; to defend character; to defend the absent; -- sometimes followed by from or against; as, to defend one's self from, or against, one's enemies.

To deny the right of the plaintiff in regard to ( the suit, or the wrong charged); to oppose or resist, as a claim at law; to contest, as a suit.

Defender.

To guard or protect from harm or violence; as, the navy defends our seacoast; maintain or uphold, as one's legal rights, by force of argument or evidence; contest, as a suit.

To guard; protect; maintain against attack; resist in law.

Defendable.

To ward off; to maintain against an attack or a charge; to resist; to prohibit; to drive back a foe; to protect; to vindicate.

To enter defence.

To maintain or vindicate by force or argument; to secure against attack; to shelter; to cover; to guard; to resist or repel.

As to that, said Archer, he is your friend, and you are right to defend him; and I won't say another word against him. – The Parent's Assistant by Maria Edgeworth

Defend himself as he would those who had arrested him knew too well how great a wrong they had done him, now to let him live. – The Golden Age in Transylvania by Mór Jókai

I cried, anxious to defend poor Peter and his quixotic plot. – The Lightning Conductor Discovers America by C. N. (Charles Norris) Williamson and A. M. (Alice Muriel) Williamson

He was obliged to keep watch and defend himself thus through all that long night. – A Desperate Voyage by Edward Frederick Knight

But the farmer, because he hated Alister, and knew that Alister must have seen him running away, gave it out, that he himself was rushing to defend Mary, and that the blow that killed her was meant for him. – Warlock o' Glenwarlock by George MacDonald

He loaded his gun and determined to defend himself. – Isaac T. Hopper by L. Maria Child

They died to defend me! – The American Union Speaker by John D. Philbrick

It can defend itself. – Pleasure & Profit in Bible Study by Dwight Moody

He turned to me again, before the bailiff could defend himself. – The Two Destinies by Wilkie Collins

But you must not think," she added, " that I defend my brother. – Madame de Treymes by Edith Wharton

He gave up at once; he didn't try to defend himself. – Indian Summer by William D. Howells

It fell to her to guard and defend her mother; and her father? – The End of a Coil by Susan Warner

You can't defend what you're doing. – The Fourth Series Plays, Complete by John Galsworthy

Come, draw, and defend yourself! – Robin Hood by J. Walker McSpadden

For we are at such an age that we are no longer able to rule, much less to defend the empire." – The White Knight: Tirant lo Blanc by Joanot Martorell and Marti Johan d'Galba

I shall not be able to defend myself. – The Fortune of the Rougons by Emile Zola

As I helped to defend Mrs. Clarke, and as we won and she was proved to be an innocent woman, and as I believe in her and admire her very much, I'm sensitive for her. – In the Wilderness by Robert Hichens

But they're going to have this bright young lawyer defend him, and they have hopes. – Somewhere in Red Gap by Harry Leon Wilson

" Good, but why defend yourself? – Bohemians of the Latin Quarter by Henry Murger