What does defender in Spanish mean?

What is the meaning of the word defender in Spanish? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use defender in Spanish.

The word defender in Spanish means defend, stand up for, defend, defend yourself, hold your own, keep your end up, be well off, defend yourself, represent yourself, defend a cause, defend a thesis. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word defender

defend

verbo transitivo (amparar, proteger) (physically protect)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Para defender a su familia, no dudó en usar su pistola.
He didn't hesitate to use his gun in order to defend his family.

stand up for

verbo transitivo (abogar, interceder) (verbally champion [sb])

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Es tu deber defender a tus amigos cuando los critican a sus espaldas.
It's your duty to stand up for your friends when they are criticized behind their backs.

defend

verbo transitivo (idea: sostener) (idea, opinion: uphold)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Admiro la forma en que defiendes tus ideas, aunque no comparto tu opinión.
I admire your way of defending your ideas, although I don't share your opinion.

defend yourself

verbo pronominal (protegerse, resguardarse)

(transitive verb and reflexive pronoun: Transitive verb with reflexive pronoun--for example, "Enjoy yourself." "They behaved themselves.")
Lo único que podía hacer ante el ataque del policía era defenderme.
The only thing I could do in response to the policeman's attack was to defend myself.

hold your own, keep your end up

verbo pronominal (ser aceptable en algo) (sufficiently competent)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
No sé mucho de física, pero me defiendo. Bob se defendía en francés aunque nunca había tomado clases.
I'm no Einstein, but I hold my own in physics.

be well off

verbo pronominal (coloquial (gozar de holgura económica)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
En tiempos de mis abuelos, había muy pocas mujeres capaces de defenderse y mantenerse económicamente por sí mismas.

defend yourself

verbo pronominal (derecho: abogar en favor)

(transitive verb and reflexive pronoun: Transitive verb with reflexive pronoun--for example, "Enjoy yourself." "They behaved themselves.")
Cuando lo cite el juez, podrá defenderse de las falsas acusaciones.
When the judge indicates, you may defend yourself against the false accusations.

represent yourself

verbo pronominal (derecho: abogar en favor propio)

(transitive verb and reflexive pronoun: Transitive verb with reflexive pronoun--for example, "Enjoy yourself." "They behaved themselves.")
El acusado se defenderá en el juicio; no tendrá abogado.
The accused will be representing himself in court; he won't have a lawyer present.

defend a cause

locución verbal (apoyar una causa)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Todos debemos defender una causa, yo defiendo el medio ambiente.

defend a thesis

locución verbal (exponer la tesis) (graduate student)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Esteban defendió su tesis frente a sus profesores.
Esteban defended his thesis in front of his professors.

Let's learn Spanish

So now that you know more about the meaning of defender in Spanish, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in Spanish.

Do you know about Spanish

Spanish (español), also known as Castilla, is a language of the Iberian-Romance group of the Romance languages, and the 4th most common language in the world according to Some sources, while others list it as a 2nd or 3rd most common language. It is the mother tongue of about 352 million people, and is spoken by 417 million people when adding its speakers as a language. sub (estimated in 1999). Spanish and Portuguese have very similar grammar and vocabulary; The number of similar vocabulary of these two languages is up to 89%. Spanish is the primary language of 20 countries around the world. It is estimated that the total number of speakers of Spanish is between 470 and 500 million, making it the second most widely spoken language in the world by number of native speakers.