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Defend vs Harbour - What's the difference?

defend | harbour |

In transitive terms the difference between defend and harbour

is that defend is to support by words or writing; to vindicate, talk in favour of while harbour is to accept, as with a belief.

As verbs the difference between defend and harbour

is that defend is to ward off, repel (an attack or attacker) while harbour is to provide shelter or refuge for.

As a noun harbour is

shelter, refuge.

defend

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • (obsolete) To ward off, repel (an attack or attacker).
  • *1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , II.viii:
  • *:The vertue is, that neither steele, nor stone / The stroke thereof from entrance may defend .
  • (obsolete) To prevent, to keep (from doing something).
  • (transitive, intransitive, obsolete) To prohibit, forbid.
  • *:
  • *:Broder said sir launcelot wete ye wel I am ful lothe to departe oute of this realme / but the quene hath defended me soo hyhely / that me semeth she wille neuer be my good lady as she hath ben
  • To ward off attacks from; to fight to protect; to guard.
  • To support by words or writing; to vindicate, talk in favour of.
  • (legal) To make legal defence of; to represent (the accused).
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 14, author=Steven Morris, work=Guardian
  • , title= Devon woman jailed for 168 days for killing kitten in microwave , passage=Philip Miles, defending , said: "This was a single instance, there was no allegation of continuing behaviour over a long period of time."}}
  • (sports) To focus one's energies and talents on preventing opponents from scoring, as opposed to focusing on scoring.
  • (sports) To attempt to retain a title, or attempt to reach the same stage in a competition as one did in the previous edition of that competition.
  • (poker slang) To call a raise from the big blind.
  • Synonyms

    * See also

    Antonyms

    * attack

    Anagrams

    *

    harbour

    English

    Alternative forms

    * herberwe (obsolete) * herborough (obsolete) * harbor (now US)

    Noun

    (wikipedia harbour)
  • (en noun) (British, Canada)
  • (obsolete, uncountable) Shelter, refuge.
  • A place of shelter or refuge.
  • The neighbourhood is a well-known harbour for petty thieves.
  • (obsolete) A house of the zodiac.
  • * Late 14th century: To ech of hem his tyme and his seson, / As thyn herberwe chaungeth lowe or heighe — Geoffrey Chaucer, ‘The Franklin’s Tale’, Canterbury Tales
  • A sheltered area for ships; a piece of water adjacent to land in which ships may stop to load and unload.
  • The city has an excellent natural harbour .
  • (astrology) The mansion of a heavenly body.
  • A mixing box for materials in glass-working.
  • Derived terms

    * harbourage * harbourmaster * unharboured

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To provide shelter or refuge for.
  • The docks, which once harboured''' tall ships, now '''harbour only petty thieves.
  • * Bishop Burnet
  • The bare suspicion made it treason to harbour the person suspected.
  • * Rowe
  • Let not your gentle breast harbour one thought of outrage.
  • To accept, as with a belief.
  • That scientist harbours the belief that God created humans.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2012 , date=September 7 , author=Phil McNulty , title=Moldova 0-5 England , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=If Moldova harboured even the slightest hopes of pulling off a comeback that would have bordered on miraculous given their lack of quality, they were snuffed out 13 minutes before the break when Oxlade-Chamberlain picked his way through midfield before releasing Defoe for a finish that should have been dealt with more convincingly by Namasco at his near post.}}

    See also

    * dock * haven