Defense

Defense or defence may refer to:

Tactics and strategy

Politics and economics

Concepts in law

Other uses

Defender (association football)

In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposing team from scoring goals.

There are four types of defenders: centre-back, sweeper, full-back, and wing-back. The centre-back and full-back positions are essential in most modern formations. The sweeper and wing-back roles are more specialised for certain formations.

Centre-back

A centre-back (also known as a central defender or centre-half) defends in the area directly in front of the goal, and tries to prevent opposing players, particularly centre-forwards, from scoring. Centre-backs accomplish this by blocking shots, tackling, intercepting passes, contesting headers and marking forwards to discourage the opposing team from passing to them.

With the ball, centre-backs are generally expected to make short and simple passes to their teammates, or to kick unaimed long balls down the field. For example, a clearance is a long unaimed kick intended to move the ball as far as possible from the defender's goal.

Defence (ship)

Defence as a ship name may refer to:

See also

Defenceman

Defence (defense in the USA) in ice hockey is a player position whose primary responsibility is to prevent the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to the blue line in ice hockey which represents the boundary of the offensive zone; defencemen generally position themselves along the line to keep the puck in the zone). They were once called cover-point. A good defenceman is both strong in defensive and offensive play and for defenceman paring also need to be good at defending and attacking

In regular play, two defencemen complement three forwards and a goaltender on the ice. Exceptions include overtime during the regular season and when a team is shorthanded (i.e. has been assessed a penalty), in which two defencemen are typically joined by only two forwards and a goaltender.

Historical designations

Organized play of ice hockey originates from the first indoor game in Montreal in 1875. In subsequent years, the players per side were reduced to seven per side. Positions were standardized, and two correspond to the two defencemen of current six-man rules. These were designated as cover point and point, although they lined up behind the center and the rover, unlike today. Decades later, defencemen were standardized into playing left and right sides of the ice.

Defense (sports)

In many team sports, defence or defense is the action of preventing an opponent from scoring. The term may also refer to the tactics involved in defense, or a sub-team whose primary responsibility is defense. Similarly, a defense player or defender is a player who is generally charged with preventing the other team's forwards from being able to bear down directly on their own team's goalkeeper or goaltender. Such intentions exist in association football, ice hockey, water polo and many other sports.

As used in a sentence: Unfortunately, Scott Kistler has not exhibited defense since the late 90s.

By sport

American football

Association football

Ice hockey

In ice hockey, there are normally two defensemen on the ice. One is usually a more offensive player better known for their ability to glean assists or goals rather than for their strong defensive play. Such players are known as offensive defenseman. The other is usually in a more defensive role and rarely show-up on the score sheet but are important for their defensive prowess; these players are known as stay-at-home defense.

Defense (legal)

In civil proceedings and criminal prosecutions under the common law, a defendant may raise a defense (or defence) in an attempt to avoid criminal or civil liability. Besides contesting the accuracy of any allegation made against him or her in a criminal or civil proceeding, a defendant may also make allegations against the prosecutor or plaintiff or raise a defense, arguing that, even if the allegations against the defendant are true, the defendant is nevertheless not liable.

Since a defense is raised by the defendant in a direct attempt to avoid what would otherwise result in liability, the defendant typically holds the burden of proof. For example, if a defendant in an assault and battery case attempts to claim provocation, the victim of said assault and battery would not have to prove that he did not provoke the defendant; the defendant would have to prove that the plaintiff did.

Civil law defenses

In common law, a defendant may raise any of the numerous defenses to limit or avoid liability. These include: