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To furnish with defenses; to fortify. [Obs.] [Written also defence.] Better manned and more strongly defensed. Hales.

ding, 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.

Destitute of defense; unprepared to resist attack; unable to oppose; unprotected. -- De*fense"less*ly, adv. -- De*fense"less*ness, n.

Defender. [Obs.] Foxe.

The act of defending one's own person, property, or reputation. In self-defense (Law), in protection of self, -- it being permitted in law to a party on whom a grave wrong is attempted to resist the wrong, even at the peril of the life of the assailiant. Wharton.

a freehold after the death of the last possessor, before the heir or devisee. Blackstone. Defense in abatement, Plea in abatement, (Law), plea to the effect that from some formal defect (e.g. misnomer, want of jurisdiction) the proceedings should be abated.

A means of defense formed by felled trees, the ends of whose branches are sharpened and directed outwards, or against the enemy.

A fortress; a fortification for defense. [Obs.] Bailey.

nsify. "To aggravate my woes." Pope. To aggravate the horrors of the scene. Prescott. The defense made by the prisioner's counsel did rather aggravate than extenuate his crime. Addison.

To call to arms for defense; to give notice to (any one) of approaching danger; to rouse to vigilance and action; to put on the alert.

The plea or mode of defense under which a person on trial for a crime proves or attempts to prove that he was in another place when the alleged act was committed; as, to set up an alibi; to prove an alibi.

Military stores, or provisions of all kinds for attack or defense. [Obs.]

To speak in defense against; to reply to in defense; as, to answer a charge; to answer an accusation.

the empire and the closer relation of its parts, esp. in matters of commerce and imperial defense. -- An`ti-im*pe"ri*al*ist, n. -- An`ti- im*pe`ri*al*is"tic (#), a.

Defending by words or arguments; said or written in defense, or by way of apology; regretfully excusing; as, an apologetic essay. "To speak in a subdued and apologetic tone." Macaulay.

One who makes an apology; one who speaks or writes in defense of a faith, a cause, or an institution; especially, one who argues in defense of Christianity.

To make an apology or defense. Dr. H. More.

Something said or written in defense or justification of what appears to others wrong, or of what may be liable to disapprobation; justification; as, Tertullian's Apology for Christianity. It is not my intention to make an apology for my poem; some will think it needs no excuse, and others will receive none. Dryden.…

or designating conspicuous or warning colors or structures indicative of special means of defense against enemies, as in the skunk.

A weapon of offense or defense; an instrument of warfare; -- commonly in the pl.