de ‧ fend ‧ er /dɪˈfendə $ -ər/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Word Family: noun : DEFENCE/DEFENSE , ↑ defendant , ↑ defender , ↑ defensiveness ; adjective : DEFENCELESS/DEFENSELESS , ↑ defensible ≠ ↑ indefensible , ↑ defensive ; adverb : ↑ defensibly ≠ ↑ indefensibly , ↑ defensively ; verb : ↑ defend ]
1 . one of the players in a game such as football who have to defend their team’s ↑ goal from the opposing team:
It’s his fourth season as an Arsenal defender.
2 . someone who defends a particular idea, belief, person etc:
He presented himself as a defender of democracy.