defended

de·fend·ed
D2E1F4E1N1D2E1D2
UK/dɪˈfɛn.dɪd/Canada, US/diˈfɛn.dɪd/Canada, US/dəˈfɛn.dɪd/

adjective

Having defenses.

Less commonScrabble 14

Meanings

adjectivedefended (comparative more defended, superlative most defended)

comparative more defended · superlative most defended

  1. Having defenses.

    Understandably, the more extreme the condition, the more defended the family and professionals can be.

    2018, Dorothy Judd, Give Sorrow Words: Working with a Dying Child, page 1976
    2 more examples

    For example, in the boreal forest where browsing by hares in winter is an important source of mortality, the juvenile-phase is more defended chemically against browsing by hares in winter than is the conspecific mature-phase (Table 2).

    1991, R. Thomas Palo, Charles T. Robbins, Plant Defenses Against Mammalian Herbivory, page 89

    This result corroborates the Hypothesis 2 that the less defended fast-growing species can be replaced over time by more defended slower-growing species.

    2018, Zhilan Feng, Donald DeAngelis, Mathematical Models of Plant-Herbivore Interactions, page 68
  2. not comparablelawIn which the defendant responds to the allegations made against them, typically by filing a defense or counterclaim in court.

    But only in less than 5% there was a court order in a defended case (Müller-Alten, 1984).

    1993, Jeremy McBride, Claude Samson, Alternative dispute resolution, page 554
    2 more examples

    If this simpler procedure were adopted in a defended case the cost would be about 29l. if counsel were employed, and about 27l. if no counsel or solicitor were employed.

    1910 March 29, “Royal Commission on Divorce and Matrimonial Causes”, in Reports from Commissioners, Inspectors, and Others, volume 18, page 476

    The Court of Appeal used the case to make a strong call for the removal of fault-based grounds, arguably at the expense of deciding in Mrs Owens' favour, and openly acknowledged that a lower threshold for behaviour is used in undefended cases scrutinised by a legal adviser at a divorce centre rather than a judge in a court in a defended case.

    2018, Ruth Lamont, Family Law, page 113
verb
  1. participlepastsimple past and past participle of defend

Origin

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with defended

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Cite this entry
APA

defended. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defended

MLA

“defended.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defended. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “defended,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defended.

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