Department of Defense
66
3.5
- proper noun
- /dɪˈpɑrtmənt əv dɪˈfɛns/
- Formal
:
Departamento de Defensa de EE. UU.
- The Department of Defense is responsible for managing the military forces of the United States.
- U.S. Department of Defense
- Department of Defense (DoD)
- Department of Defense budget
All right, Next up, we have the Department of Defense under Trump.
- All right, Next up, we have the Department of Defense under Trump.
- And so it's just that the Department of Defense in the US is, is highly reactive.
- He has no business running the Department of Defense.
- So this is almost in the range of the biggest hydrogen bomb that the US Department of Defense ever tested, right?
- So you're you're kind of getting it way ahead of where the current Department of Defense might be.
- Nobody else does, but we maintain them as part of the Department of Defense.
- But look is a is a book that deals in part with the US Department of Defense's Dictionary of Military and Associated terms.
- It could be marriage records, it could be specifications of stuff owned by the Department of Defence.
- I have the Department of Defense letter to the FBI demanding that the FBI turn those over to them.
- Basically, if you've ever heard of ARPA or DARPA, they came out of the US Department of Defence and were like their moon shot secret projects.
- And they purged the pictures of the Enola Gay from the Department of Defense websites because they thought it had to do with LGBTQ.
- And I know that later returning to the Department of Defence, you work to reform the acquisitions process.
- I should say that the first thing I did was to say to myself, well, to get permission for this, I probably need to write to the Department of Defense.
Examples
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The impact is felt throughout the Department of Defense (DoD) as a whole.
Academic text (1990) -
The Department of Defense didn't invent this plane, Colonel.
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You do work in the Department of Defense, right?
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What can I do for the Department of Defense?
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We got some really good news from the Department of Defense today.
Fiction book (1990) -
Yes, I'm trying to reach the Department of Defense, please.
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Children of military personnel typically attend schools operated by the U.S. Department of Defense.
Academic text (2015) -
Taking the lead in dealing with contagious diseases is not new to the Department of Defense.
Academic text (1992) -
On behalf of the Department of Defense, we would like to welcome you to Naval Air Station Rota, Spain.
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The real problem for the Department of Defense is not age-old interservice rivalries.
Academic text (1999)
Synonyms
831
3.7
The part of the United States government that runs the military and protects the country
242
3.6
A large five-sided building in Arlington where US military leaders work
96
3.4
A part of the United States government that protects the country and manages the military
51
5.2
A US government department that protects the country and runs the armed forces
1
3.9
A United States government department that protects the country's security and runs the armed forces
Surface Forms
Morphology
department + of + Defense
The phrase is compositionally built from 'department' (an organizational unit) + 'of' (linking) + 'defense' (military protection), so its meaning as an agency responsible for national/military defense is directly inferable from the constituents. The 'Department of X' construction is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the words would understand this refers to a government department overseeing defense, even if they might not know the specific U.S. institutional nuances.
Etymology
Department of Defense got its name after the U.S. joined separate military offices into one group; the word defense was chosen to show the job is to 'protect' the country rather than to 'attack'. That's why today the name tells you it is the government office in charge of national security and the armed forces.