defender
n. countablen. a person who protects someone or something from an attack. In sports, this is a player whose main job is to stop the other team from scoring.
n. a person who wards off an attack or guards against danger; in a sporting context, a player tasked with preventing the opposition from scoring. Often used in legal or political contexts to describe a person who supports a specific idea or person under criticism.
The team's best defender blocked the shot.
She has always been a fierce defender of environmental rights in her local community.
The legal team acted as a staunch defender of the defendant's constitutional rights throughout the high-profile trial, challenging every piece of questionable evidence presented by the prosecution.
From Middle English defender, deffender, defendere, defendour, defendoure, partly from Anglo-Norman defendour, from Old French defendëor; partly from Middle English defenden + -ere, equivalent to defend + -er.
Commonly followed by the preposition 'of' when referring to the protection of ideas, people, or principles.