athletics, sport - an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition

team, squad - a cooperative unit

umbrella - a formation of military planes maintained over ground operations or targets; "an air umbrella over England"

military action, action - a military engagement; "he saw action in Korea"

air defense - defensive measures designed to destroy attacking enemy aircraft or missiles or to nullify their effectiveness

stand - a defensive effort; "the army made a final stand at the Rhone"

hasty defence, hasty defense - a defense organized while in contact with the enemy or when time is limited

deliberate defence, deliberate defense - a defensive organized before contact is made with the enemy and while time for organization is available; usually includes a fortified zone (with pillboxes) and communication systems

biodefence, biodefense, biological defence, biological defense - procedures involved in taking defensive measures against attacks using biological agents

chemical defence, chemical defense - procedures involved in taking defensive measures against attacks using chemical agents

minelaying, mining - laying explosive mines in concealed places to destroy enemy personnel and equipment

biological warfare defence, biological warfare defense, BW defence, BW defense - defense against biological warfare

armed forces, armed services, military, military machine, war machine - the military forces of a nation; "their military is the largest in the region"; "the military machine is the same one we faced in 1991 but now it is weaker"

aggregation, collection, accumulation, assemblage - several things grouped together or considered as a whole

protection - the activity of protecting someone or something; "the witnesses demanded police protection"

cheval-de-frise, chevaux-de-frise - defensive structure consisting of a movable obstacle composed of barbed wire or spikes attached to a wooden frame; used to obstruct cavalry

fortification, munition - defensive structure consisting of walls or mounds built around a stronghold to strengthen it

fortress, fort - a fortified defensive structure

line of defence, line of defense - defensive structure consisting of a barrier that can be employed for defense against attack

outwork - subsidiary defensive structure lying outside the main fortified area; "the outworks of the castle"

stronghold, fastness - a strongly fortified defensive structure

structure, construction - a thing constructed; a complex construction or entity; "the structure consisted of a series of arches"; "she wore her hair in an amazing construction of whirls and ribbons"

answer - the speech act of replying to a question

confutation - the speech act of refuting conclusively

rebuttal - the speech act of refuting by offering a contrary contention or argument

justification - a statement in explanation of some action or belief

apologia, apology - a formal written defense of something you believe in strongly

alibi - (law) a defense by an accused person purporting to show that he or she could not have committed the crime in question

exculpation, excuse, self-justification, alibi - a defense of some offensive behavior or some failure to keep a promise etc.; "he kept finding excuses to stay"; "every day he had a new alibi for not getting a job"; "his transparent self-justification was unacceptable"

due process, due process of law - (law) the administration of justice according to established rules and principles; based on the principle that a person cannot be deprived of life or liberty or property without appropriate legal procedures and safeguards

trial - (law) legal proceedings consisting of the judicial examination of issues by a competent tribunal; "most of these complaints are settled before they go to trial"

entrapment - a defense that claims the defendant would not have broken the law if not tricked into doing it by law enforcement officials

jurisprudence, law - the collection of rules imposed by authority; "civilization presupposes respect for the law"; "the great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order"

organization, organisation - a group of people who work together

bastion - a group that defends a principle; "a bastion against corruption"; "the last bastion of communism"

executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States

DARPA, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - the central research and development organization for the United States Department of Defense; responsible for developing new surveillance technologies since 9/11

Department of Defense Laboratory System, LABLINK - a defense laboratory that provides essential services in fundamental science for national security and environmental protection and provides technologies that contribute to industrial competitiveness

United States Navy, US Navy, USN - the navy of the United States of America; maintains and trains and equips combat-ready naval forces

U. S. Air Force, United States Air Force, US Air Force, USAF - the airforce of the United States of America; defends the United States through control and exploitation of air and space

Defense Intelligence Agency, DIA - an intelligence agency of the United States in the Department of Defense; is responsible for providing intelligence in support of military planning and operations and weappons acquisition

Defense Logistics Agency - a logistics combat support agency in the Department of Defense; provides worldwide support for military missions

Defense Technical Information Center, DTIC - the agency in the Department of Defense that provides scientific and technical information to federal agencies and their contractors

National Reconnaissance Office, NRO - an intelligence agency in the United States Department of Defense that designs and builds and operates space reconnaissance systems to detect trouble spots worldwide and to monitor arms control agreements and environmental issues and to help plan military operations

National Security Agency, NSA - the United States cryptologic organization that coordinates and directs highly specialized activities to protect United States information systems and to produce foreign intelligence information

U. S. Army, United States Army, US Army, USA - the army of the United States of America; organizes and trains soldiers for land warfare

Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, BMDO - an agency in the Department of Defense that is responsible for making ballistic missile defense a reality

Defense Information Systems Agency, DISA - a combat support agency in the Department of Defense responsible for developing and operating and supporting information systems to serve the needs of the President and the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff

National Imagery and Mapping Agency, NIMA - a combat support agency that provides geospatial intelligence in support of national security

Casualty Care Research Center, CCRC - an agency in the Department of Defense that is a national center for research on all aspects of injury control and casualty care

unconscious process, process - a mental process that you are not directly aware of; "the process of denial"

psychiatry, psychological medicine, psychopathology - the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders

compensation - (psychiatry) a defense mechanism that conceals your undesirable shortcomings by exaggerating desirable behaviors

conversion - (psychiatry) a defense mechanism represses emotional conflicts which are then converted into physical symptoms that have no organic basis

denial - (psychiatry) a defense mechanism that denies painful thoughts

displacement - (psychiatry) a defense mechanism that transfers affect or reaction from the original object to some more acceptable one

idealisation, idealization - (psychiatry) a defense mechanism that splits something you are ambivalent about into two representations--one good and one bad

intellectualisation, intellectualization - (psychiatry) a defense mechanism that uses reasoning to block out emotional stress and conflict

isolation - (psychiatry) a defense mechanism in which memory of an unacceptable act or impulse is separated from the emotion originally associated with it

projection - (psychiatry) a defense mechanism by which your own traits and emotions are attributed to someone else

psychoanalytic process - a process that is assumed to occur in psychoanalytic theory

rationalisation, rationalization - (psychiatry) a defense mechanism by which your true motivation is concealed by explaining your actions and feelings in a way that is not threatening

reaction formation - (psychiatry) a defense mechanism in which a person unconsciously develops attitudes and behavior that are the opposite of unacceptable repressed desires and impulses and serve to conceal them; "his strict morality is just a reaction formation to hide his sexual drive"

regression - (psychiatry) a defense mechanism in which you flee from reality by assuming a more infantile state

repression - (psychiatry) the classical defense mechanism that protects you from impulses or ideas that would cause anxiety by preventing them from becoming conscious