DEFENCE vs DEFENSE: When to Use

Defense or Defence in English

Defence vs Defense! When it comes to words that are spelled almost the
same, with one different letter only, sometimes the answer is that one of the
words is British, while the other one is American. That’s the case
with defence and defense. Both spellings are acceptable but each is more
widely used in a specific part of the world.

When to Use Defense or Defence

DEFENSE is an American word and DEFENCE is British. So, when you see a
sentence like “The enemy was attacking us but our DEFENSE/ DEFENCE was strong
enough to stop him”, you can use one of the two words with confidence. You only
need to remember where the audience you are writing your text for is from.

Many other words can be formed from defense  or defence  but, interestingly

enough, this difference in spelling doesn’t stay in all of the cases. For
example, there isn’t such a word as “defencive” or “defencible”: when
these suffixes are added, both British and American people spell the words
with a “s”, i.e. defensive, defensible.

When an American person is talking about sports, you might hear him
use defense  as a verb. Some style guides say that this isn’t the correct usage of
the word but still, since many native speakers use it, you can, too. There’s
nothing wrong with saying something like, “Our team DEFENSES the opponent’s
attack”. However, if you want to be correct according to all the style guides, it’s
better to use “defend against” instead of “defense” when you need a verb.
Defence vs Defense Examples
 The  defence budget was still growing.
 Britain has allied itself with other western powers for trade and  defence.
 The government is trying to save ￡1 million on defence.
 I’ve never played in a  defence position.
 The team has a strong attack, but its  defence is weak.
 They finally cracked the  defence and scored a goal.
 He realized none of his schoolmates would come to his  defense.
 Our  defense should be strengthened.
 Twenty eight percent of the federal budget is spent on  defense.
 The secretary of  defense briefed the president on the enemy’s strength.
 He was the then secretary of  Defense.
 A thick overcoat is a good  defense against the cold.