˜yÐÄvlog

Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for

on the defensive



Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

Prepared for withstanding aggression or attack, as in The debate team's plan was to keep their opponents on the defensive , or This teacher put students on the defensive about their mistakes . [c. 1600]
Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

San Francisco 49ers: DT Kenneth Grant, Michigan — Not too long ago, the 49ers were loaded on the defensive line.

From

It has also put federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre on the defensive in the early days of the country's short federal electoral race.

From

And the edge they played with on the defensive side of the ball for nearly half the season simply hasn’t been as sharp this month.

From

Greenland was already on the defensive about Trump's talk of a takeover, but he sent further shockwaves by implying he might ask to take the island with support of Nato, a military alliance of which Denmark is also a part.

From

Greenland was already on the defensive about Trump's annexing talk, but his comments to Rutte at the White House sent further shockwaves when he implied that Nato's help might be needed to seize the island.

From

Advertisement

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement