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Glite Dictionary
defending

defending

3.1
A player or team trying to stop opponents from scoring
  • adjective
  • /dɪˈfɛndɪŋ/
translation icon : defensivo
  • The coach emphasized the importance of strong defending to prevent the opposing team from scoring.

Examples

  • The team's defending skills helped them secure a victory in the championship match.

  • She was praised for her defending performance during the soccer game, blocking several shots on goal.

  • At a mid-November meeting of the Defending Social Security Caucus, the Vermont independent issued a fiery warning against cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid to President Obama, congressional Republicans, and Blue Dog Democrats.

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Synonyms

defensive
vsdefending
346 3.8

Made to protect against attack or harm

is focused on preventing opponents from scoring in competitive play

Antonyms

attacking
4.3

Showing strong behavior to try to defeat or pressure others

Compounds

defending team
2.3

The team trying to stop the other team from scoring

How Effective

defending
3.1
to tackle
65 2.5
blocking
18 3.4

Surface Forms

defending positive

Morphology

defending = defend (transparent) = defend + ing

Standard verbal -ing forming a present participle/adjectival meaning 'engaged in defense', directly derived from 'defend'.

Etymology

Defending comes from defend, which originally meant to 'push away' an attack and is made from de- 'away' and fend (as in fend off) 'push or keep away'. So a defending player is trying to 'push away' the opponent and stop them from scoring.