From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdefamationdef‧a‧ma‧tion /ˌdefəˈmeɪʃən/ noun [uncountable] SCCthe act of defaming someone He sued the newspaper for defamation of character.
Examples from the Corpus
defamation• Lord Mackay appeared to rule out an extension of legal aid to cover defamation cases.• It accords them a privilege from action for defamation, on the condition that they are made honestly.• In due course the council, Mr. Bookbinder and Mr. Oyston all brought actions for defamation in respect of those articles.• Primafacie that right will be interfered with by a public authority if the maker of the statement is sued for defamation.• This category, however, overlaps with that of defamation, etc., only by accident.• But as soon as some right-wing rag called her a lesbian, she started screaming defamation.• It also wants a reform of the defamation and obscenity laws.defamation of character• King is suing the show's producers for defamation of character.From Longman Business Dictionarydefamationdef‧a‧ma‧tion /ˌdefəˈmeɪʃən/ noun [uncountable] law the act of writing or saying bad or untrue things about someone, so that people will have a bad opinion of themHe sued the newspaper for defamation of character. —defame verb [transitive] 