How to Use defender in a Sentence

defender

noun
  • This is not a fight defenders win once.
    — Philip Martin, Fortune, 29 May 2026
  • There were three defenders in the same area as the throw.
    — Evan Massey, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Sep. 2025
  • Downs might just be the best defender in the whole draft.
    — Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Mar. 2026
  • But when the ball was snapped, many of those defenders peeled back.
    — Jasmine Cui, NBC News, 19 Nov. 2023
  • But the movie had its defenders.
    — Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Did crossing and goals from defenders come to the fore again?
    — Art De Roché, The Athletic, 25 Jan. 2025
  • The public defender does not set bail; that is the role of the judge.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 13 Aug. 2024
  • Joveljic received the ball wide on the left wing and drove right at a defender.
    — Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 15 Mar. 2026
  • The sophomore defender hadn’t even scored a goal in high school.
    — Steve Millar, Chicago Tribune, 26 May 2023
  • Both became the kind of defender the field needs.
    — Tarika Barrett, Fortune, 29 May 2026
  • That’s why the Nuggets’ goal was to guard them with two defenders, not one.
    — Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 15 Mar. 2026
  • In the first game of the season last year, a defender rolled up on his leg and hurt his knee.
    — Kevin Reynolds, The Salt Lake Tribune, 5 Aug. 2022
  • In the end, public land defenders won.
    — Karlee Provenza, Denver Post, 11 Feb. 2026
  • The defenders know how important that spot is for the man with the ball.
    — Jared Weiss, New York Times, 4 June 2026
  • But the two best defenders in the series were the last men standing.
    — Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 1 May 2026
  • Don't sleep on the Chargers in this race for the star defender.
    — Tommy Tuberville, Newsweek, 6 Mar. 2025
  • Hirschfeld was the most famous defender of gay people the world had yet known.
    — Laurie Marhoefer, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 June 2022
  • Was there a defender between the forward and the goal line when the ball was passed?
    — Washington Post, 23 Dec. 2021
  • And that defender, with his eyes on the attacker, is blind to the pick.
    — Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2024
  • Watch them dip and dance and make defenders miss all the way to New York.
    — Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2026
  • Watch them dip and dance and make defenders miss all the way to New York.
    — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2026
  • The court’s defenders had reason to think the country was at a precipice.
    — Emily Bazelon, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2023
  • Weeks is one of the top defenders in the conference.
    — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 23 Sep. 2025
  • As Barcelona’s defender landed on the ground, the ball hit the back of his arm.
    — Pol Ballús, The Athletic, 23 Feb. 2025
  • Conner was on a run when he was rolled on by two of the 49ers big defenders.
    — James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Sep. 2025
  • Loveland bounced off two defenders and ran for a touchdown.
    — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 2 Nov. 2025
  • There’s irony, too, in the need, in the call to defend the best defender on the planet.
    — Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 26 Feb. 2022
  • The Uzbek defender does not deal in subtleties.
    — Jordan Campbell, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
  • Rescind the foul on the defender.
    — Jon Root Outkick, FOXNews.com, 13 June 2026
  • Yet this league is replete with scorers who aren’t defenders.
    — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 8 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'defender.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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