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o shut off; to restrain; to limit; to estop; to bar; -- generally in the passive; as, the defendant is concluded by his own plea; a judgment concludes the introduction of further evidence argument. If therefore they will appeal to revelation for their creation they must be concluded by it. Sir M. Hale.…

The aggregate of mental qualities; temperament. He defended himself with . . . less passion than was expected from his constitution. Clarendon.

To struggle or exert one's self to obtain or retain possession of, or to defend. You sit above, and see vain men below Contend for what you only can bestow. Dryden.

To strive earnestly to hold or maintain; to struggle to defend; as, the troops contested every inch of ground.

he Fates with traitors do contrive. Shak. Thou hast contrived against th very life Of the defendant. Shak.

An advocate or defender of convocation.

ourt; also, collectively, the legal advocates united in the management of a case; as, the defendant has able counsel. The King found his counsel as refractory as his judges. Macaulay.

One who subscribed and defended the "Solemn League and Covenant." See Covenant.

To shelter, as from evil or danger; to protect; to defend; as, the cavalry covered the retreat. His calm and blameless life Does with substantial blessedness abound, And the soft wings of peace cover him round. Cowley.

A bill brought by a defendant, in an equity or chancery suit, against the plaintiff, respecting the matter in question in that suit. Bouvier.

hich a vessel would go. -- Dead angle (Mil.), an angle or space which can not be seen or defended from behind the parapet. -- Dead block, either of two wooden or iron blocks intended to serve instead of buffers at the end of a freight car. -- Dead calm (Naut.), no wind at all. -- Dead center, or Dead point (Mach.),…

opinion; to come to a conclusion; to give decision; as, the court decided in favor of the defendant. Who shall decide, when doctors disagree Pope.

To defend by declamation; to advocate loudly. [Obs.] "Declaims his cause." South.

the benefit of law, as a failure to appear in court at a day assigned, especially of the defendant in a suit when called to make answer; also of jurors, witnesses, etc. In default of, in case of failure or lack of. Cooks could make artificial birds and fishes in default of the real ones. Arbuthnot. -- To suffer a defa…

That which serves to protect or defend.

The act of defending, or the state of being defended; protection, as from violence or danger. In cases of defense 't is best to weigh The enemy more mighty than he seems. Shak.

Defender. [Obs.] Foxe.

Capability of being defended.

Capable of being defended; as, a defensible city, or a defensible cause.

Capability of being defended; defensibility. Priestley.