How to Use defend in a Sentence

defend

verb
  • We believed it was a cause worth defending.
  • Stop defending him. What he did was wrong.
  • The company must defend its own interests.
  • She defended her friend's behavior.
  • The 6-foot-8-inch wing can shoot, cut, pass, and defend at a high level.
    — Ethan Fuller, BostonGlobe.com, 19 Jan. 2023
  • At home, even her own three sons seemed to defend Mr. Tate.
    — Isabella Kwai, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2023
  • The man who was attempting to defend his dog died at the scene.
    — Corin Cesaric, Peoplemag, 3 Feb. 2023
  • As the law has come under threat, Urbina said, more Yaquis have emerged to defend it.
    — Karin Brulliard, Washington Post, 7 Nov. 2022
  • In France, Gen Z is taking to the streets to defend their work-life balance.
    — Kylie Robison, Fortune, 3 Feb. 2023
  • Xavier has to value the ball and force Southern to defend the Musketeers in the half-court.
    — Adam Baum, The Enquirer, 12 Dec. 2022
  • The defending Olympic champions will need a lot of luck to make the next round.
    — John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 28 July 2024
  • Miller's unit helped defend the town of Sangju in late July 1950.
    — Aurora Sousanis, Detroit Free Press, 18 Aug. 2023
  • Now, Wilkinson doesn’t feel the need to defend Hefner any longer.
    — Danielle Bacher, Peoplemag, 17 Jan. 2024
  • And to just do this to these people who can't defend themselves.
    — Caitlin McFall, Fox News, 29 Sep. 2022
  • Microsoft is in the center of much of the ability to defend.
    — WIRED, 2 Nov. 2023
  • Haggis paid his lawyers a total of $1.8 million to defend him in court.
    — Antonio Ferme, Variety, 14 Nov. 2022
  • The kids at Uvalde needed JR-15s to defend themselves from the evil maniac that didn’t care about laws.
    — Prem Thakker, The New Republic, 17 Jan. 2023
  • New Orleans has accomplished that feat against teams that don’t defend the run very well.
    — Nick Hennion, Chicago Tribune, 20 Oct. 2022
  • Combs reportedly punched one of the suspects to defend himself and the witness when he was pushed out the front door and fell on the ground.
    — Teddy Grant, ABC News, 19 Dec. 2022
  • Tavia Hunt, who was a stay-at-home mom, defended him in a social media post.
    — Christopher Brito, CBS News, 17 May 2024
  • This sets up as a perfect buy-low spot on the West Ham offense at home against a defense that struggles to defend on the road.
    — Nick Hennion, Chicago Tribune, 29 Dec. 2022
  • Brero opened Alp in 1989, and fiercely defended his turf.
    — David D. Kirkpatrick, The New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2023
  • The goal is the mission, and the mission is always to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States.
    — Elaine Ayala, San Antonio Express-News, 4 Sep. 2024
  • This is part of Apple’s pitch defending the price of this device.
    — Samuel Axon, Ars Technica, 17 Jan. 2024
  • There are many readers that may simply want to learn how to defend themselves.
    — Roger Lockridge, Men's Health, 11 Nov. 2022
  • From there, the Italian defended and slipped Nickolas’ kicks to finish out the bout and win bronze.
    — Nathan Canilao, The Mercury News, 9 Aug. 2024
  • For at least one game, Sirianni silenced the critics who said his team can’t defend against the run.
    — Matthew Vantryon, The Indianapolis Star, 21 Nov. 2022
  • Brownlee also went on the record to defend herself and let fans know she is not being strung along.
    — Stephanie Sengwe, Peoplemag, 16 Jan. 2023
  • The Vatican has defended Francis’ decision to recover in peace and out of the public eye.
    — Nicole Winfield, Chicago Tribune, 3 Mar. 2025
  • In the last seven minutes of regulation, Brown shot 0 for 4 when defended by Murray.
    — Bennett Durando, The Denver Post, 3 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'defend.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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