a fighter who holds out against attack

One who defends.

One who defends; a champion.

One who defends; an advocate or champion; the defendant or person sued. Defender of the Faith, a title of the sovereign of England, first conferred by the Pope on Henry VIII, in consideration of his defence of the Church against the heresy of Luther.

One player is appointed stool defender, and stands beside the stool. – Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium by Jessie H. Bancroft

All this, if he would retain his integrity, he must learn to ear unmoved and walk steadily onward in the path of public duty, sustained only by the reflection that time may do him justice; or if not, that his individual hopes and aspirations and even his name among men should be of little account to him when weighed in the balance of a people of whose destiny he is a constituted guardian and defender. – Senator North by Gertrude Atherton

Douglas had never been a defender of slavery on ethical grounds, nor had he expressed any distinct aversion to the system. – The Anti-Slavery Crusade Volume 28 In The Chronicles Of America Series by Jesse Macy

Freud's theory of the suppressed wish finds a happy illustration in this rage over the Chicago Defender. – Negro Migration during the War by Emmett J. Scott

The conclusions of the Cabinet were summed up by Adams in a reply to De Onis, on the 23d of July, which must have greatly astonished that diligent defender of Spanish honor. – Jefferson and his Colleagues A Chronicle of the Virginia Dynasty, Volume 15 In The Chronicles Of America Series by Allen Johnson

The entrenched government of Sir John Macdonald, who had died some few years previously, went down in defeat before Laurier, the Liberal, the champion of Quebec and at the same time the defender of Manitoba rights. – The Canadian Commonwealth by Agnes C. Laut

There they had to have chocolate, as Capitan Basilio had become a warm friend and defender of Ibarra since the day of the picnic. – The Social Cancer A Complete English Version of Noli Me Tangere by José Rizal

Overjoyed, the knight rushed forth, to fall by the axe of that stubborn defender. – Harold, Complete The Last Of The Saxon Kings by Edward Bulwer-Lytton

" Oh, wait and see- wait and see," was all that Frank's defender could say. – Frank Merriwell's Chums by Burt L. Standish

And now, like the double- dealing cad you are, you come here posing as her defender. – A Tame Surrender, A Story of The Chicago Strike by Charles King

So long as life remained, her defender would never desert her. – The Riflemen of the Miami by Edward S. Ellis

He was an able defender of the Covenanted Church. – Sketches of the Covenanters by J. C. McFeeters

My position as defender of the youngsters has gained for me his ill- will. – A Voyage with Captain Dynamite by Charles Edward Rich