Verb
To prohibit; to forbid.
To ward or fend off; to drive back or away; to repel.
To repel danger or harm from; to protect; to secure against; attack; to maintain against force or argument; to uphold; to guard; as, to defend a town; to defend a cause; to defend character; to defend the absent; -- sometimes followed by from or against; as, to defend one's self from, or against, one's enemies.
To deny the right of the plaintiff in regard to (the suit, or the wrong charged); to oppose or resist, as a claim at law; to contest, as a suit.
Source: Webster's dictionaryThe truth is like a lion; you don't have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself. Augustine of Hippo
Like the apple of Thine eye preserve me, O Lord God; defend me and beneath Thy wings shelter me from temptations. Ephrem the Syrian
Happy the man who ventures boldly to defend what he holds dear. Ovid
Even the lion must defend himself against the flies. German Proverb
He who is stricken knows how to defend himself. Kikuyu Proverb
God defend you from the devil, the eye of a harlot, and the turn of a die. Spanish Proverb