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.

Verb

(dictat)

To order, command, control.

* 2001 , Sydney I. Landau, Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography , Cambridge University Press (ISBN 0-521-78512-X), page 409,

Trademark Owners will nevertheless try to dictate how their marks are to be represented, but dictionary publishers with spine can resist such pressure.

To speak in order for someone to write down the words.

She is dictating a letter to a stenographer.

The French teacher dictated a passage from Victor Hugo.