defenceman

D2E1F4E1N1C3E1M3A1N1

noun

In ice hockey and lacrosse, a player position with a primary responsibility to prevent the opposing team from scoring goals; same as defender in many other ballgames.

UncommonScrabble 18
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Meanings

noundefenceman (plural defencemen)

plural defencemen

  1. In ice hockey and lacrosse, a player position with a primary responsibility to prevent the opposing team from scoring goals; same as defender in many other ballgames.

    Hulking defenceman Gudbranson, who came to Vancouver in a trade with the Florida Panthers last May, scored in his debut for the Canucks.

    2016 September 29, Jason Keller, “Eberle-McDavid-Lucic line debuts in Oilers pre-season loss to Canucks”, in CBC, archived from the original on 04 Apr 2023

Origin

From defence + -man.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish puolustaja, pakki
  • puolustajadefender in ice hockey and lacrosse
  • pakkidefender in ice hockey and lacrosse
French défenseur
  • défenseurdefender in ice hockey and lacrosse
Russian защи́тник
  • защи́тник (zaščítnik)defender in ice hockey and lacrosse
Swedish back
  • backdefender in ice hockey and lacrosse
Cite this entry
APA

defenceman. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defenceman

MLA

“defenceman.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defenceman. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “defenceman,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defenceman.

Source: defenceman on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.