How to Use defender in a Sentence

defender

noun
  • Lowry creates the contact my driving with force through the defender.
    Andy Larsen, The Salt Lake Tribune, 21 Nov. 2022
  • That last scenario is the one polling defenders point to — that a close poll can motivate people to vote.
    James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Nov. 2024
  • Oregon State defender Gael Gibert met the ball but failed to clear it.
    Mitchell Forde, oregonlive, 20 Nov. 2022
  • The defender to his left missed the tackle altogether, and the one to his right got just a handful of jersey.
    Mychal Denzel Smith, The Atlantic, 18 Nov. 2022
  • On 4th down, Mayfield dropped back to pass and had a handful of 49ers defenders blitzing him.
    Ryan Gaydos, Fox News, 11 Nov. 2024
  • Being a coach himself and not wanting to be a hypocrite, Herb had his son do what’s best for the team, which meant transitioning to a rebounder and post defender.
    Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Nov. 2022
  • The public defender does not set bail; that is the role of the judge.
    Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 13 Aug. 2024
  • But when the ball was snapped, many of those defenders peeled back.
    Jasmine Cui, NBC News, 19 Nov. 2023
  • West’s high trump wins the defenders’ third and last trick.
    Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 15 Sep. 2024
  • And that defender, with his eyes on the attacker, is blind to the pick.
    Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2024
  • The sophomore defender hadn’t even scored a goal in high school.
    Steve Millar, Chicago Tribune, 26 May 2023
  • The court’s defenders had reason to think the country was at a precipice.
    Emily Bazelon, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2023
  • Ashford even said the UMass defenders weren’t able to keep up with his speed.
    Matt Cohen | McOhen@al.com, al, 2 Sep. 2023
  • The first was a 15-yard post route over the middle where Lewis beat his defender for an easy pitch-and-catch.
    Peter Warren, Dallas News, 27 Dec. 2022
  • The work of Amazon defenders, and those willing to take the risk to report on it, lives on.
    Erika Page, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 June 2023
  • Their best chance was a header from defender Chris Mepham that went wide just on the stroke of half-time.
    Time, 21 Nov. 2022
  • Quentin Grimes is a great shooter and a great defender.
    Mat Issa, Forbes, 17 Oct. 2024
  • Nayef Aguerd, the central defender, fell by the wayside in warm-ups.
    Rory Smith, New York Times, 15 Dec. 2022
  • But as Butler searched for an opening to the rim, his defender slid over to cut him off.
    Andrew Keh, New York Times, 1 Apr. 2023
  • Brandon Miller received the ball off a screen and beat his defender to the rim to score with four seconds left.
    Mike Rodak | Mrodak@al.com, al, 22 Feb. 2023
  • In the 82nd minute, Bethany Arabe beat two defenders and hit a shot from outside the goalkeepers’ box to make it 2-0.
    Ryan Finley, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Dec. 2023
  • Tide defender Brooke Steere said other teams will press for the first 10 minutes of the game or the second half.
    Michael Casagrande | McAsagrande@al.com, al, 2 Dec. 2022
  • Then the guard turned his body to firmly plant himself in front of Lewis’ defender to give the shooter space.
    Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 30 Mar. 2024
  • Of the three goals Salt Lake conceded, one was an own goal by defender Justen Glad.
    Alex Vejar, The Salt Lake Tribune, 27 July 2023
  • After Elliott snapped the ball, he was knocked over by a defender.
    Calvin Watkins, Dallas News, 15 Mar. 2023
  • On a second-down play in the first quarter, Sanders took a handoff, juked a defender and ran for three yards.
    Kyle Melnick, Washington Post, 17 Jan. 2024
  • Some of that is her value as a decoy, or to keep one defender away from Jones or Cameron Brink.
    Marisa Ingemi, San Francisco Chronicle, 13 Mar. 2023
  • Recognition as the top defender in the NBA would seem much more likely should Davis stay healthy.
    Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2023
  • Removed a small health pack on the second area balcony that was easy for defenders to overuse.
    Kris Holt, Forbes, 12 Feb. 2024
  • Spain’s standout attacker at the tournament received the ball out wide, wrong-footed the defender with a brilliant feint and put a ball into the box which eventually trickled on to Celia Segura, who made no mistake from close range.
    Neel Shelat, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024

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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