From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishself-defenceˌself-deˈfence British English, self-defense American English noun [uncountable] 1 DEFENDsomething you do to protect yourself or your propertyin self-defence He shot him in self-defence.2 DEFENDskills that you learn to protect yourself if you are attacked
Examples from the Corpus
self-defence• self-defence classes• The police claimed they had acted in self-defence.• Clearly the current situation in which the use of force is illegal except in self-defence is inadequate.• She claims she shot him in self-defence.• The latter picked up a crossbow, intending to use it in self-defence.• Mr De Benedetti's line in self-defence is also rather familiar.• Its use in self-defence is entirely secondary and only employed as a last resort.• But developing a sense of this is essential to wellbeing; assertiveness training and learning self-defence can both help.• It has the strange ability to blow itself up with either air or water as a means of self-defence.• The basic rules of self-defence are quite simple: keep your eyes open and you can usually avoid trouble.• All nations have the right to self-defence. 