having to defend
yourself 7 Bfr #p I? &;
Their questions about the money put her
on the defensive. mimmmmH, ttJSMMfcjfe*. 0
Warnings of an enemy attack forced the troops onto the
defensive.
defensive 'medicine noun [u] (especially NAmE) medical treatment that involves more
tests, operations, etc. than a person really needs because a doctor is worried
that a claim or complaint may be made against them in court if they make a
mistake in the treatment they give RMWttMfr, SJIttE# (
defer /di'f3i(r)/
verb (-rr-) to delay sth until
a later time ft jig; Mlf; MM Fn^l put off [VN] The department
deferred the
decision for six months. SpnftiSX A A M 0 She had applied for deferred admission
to
college. [also v »ng] ►
de-ferment,
de-fer-ral /di'f3iral/
noun [U, C] de'fer
to sb/sth
(formal)
to agree to accept what sb has decided or what they think about sb/sth
because you respect him or her M M ; o/r M ; M M : We
will defer to whatever the committee decides. i±iWff
deference /'defarans/
noun [u] behaviour that shows that you respect sb/sth ^S; jUM;
nfrM: The women wore veils in deference to the customs of the country.
MlQZmmmiMM&tS^W^o o The
flags were lowered out of deference to the bereaved family.
W^IL ► def-er-en-tial
/.defa'renjl/ adj. deferentially /-Jali/
adv.
defiance /di'faians/
noun [U] open refusal to obey sb/sth if fri; ix.|rC; a look/anact/a gesture
of
defiance 0 Nuclear
testing
was
resumed in defiance of an international ban.
de fiance campaign
noun (in
de-fi-ant /di'faiant/
adj. openly refusing to obey sb/sth, sometimes in an aggressive way
A#Si§£rLW; HirtW;
W : a defiant
teenager — 7 W A A O The terrorists sent a defiant message to the
government.
7Ac ►
de-fi-ant-ly adv.
de-fib-ril-la-tion /.diifibn'leijn/
noun [U] (medical HE) the
use of a controlled electric shock from a defibrillator to return the heart to
its natural rhythm ( fij
ffeA )
defibrillator /di:'fibrileita(r)/
noun (medical HE) a
piece of equipment used to control the movements of the heart muscles by giving
the heart a controlled electric shock )
deficiency /di'fijnsi/
noun (pi -ies) ~ (in/of sth) 1 [u, C] the
state of not having, or not having enough of, sth that is essential A; 7 A. EEdshortage:
Vitamin deficiency in the diet can cause illness,
i< A (& 0 a
deficiency of Vitamin B & £I4|B
2[C]a fault or a weakness in sth/sb that makes it or them less
successful pg :
deficiencies in the
computer system if % fjl %
W # #
IfePg #
de fi cient /di'fijnt/
adj. 1 ~ (in sth) not having enough of sth, especially sth
that is essential A W; 'X W;
A A.W: a diet
that is deficient in vitamin A A 2
(formal) not good enough
W: Deaf people are sometimes treated as being
mentally deficient.
deficit /'defisit/
noun 1 (economics 4£) the
amount by which money spent or owed is greater than money earned in a
particular period of time jfc
^; MU; A M: a budget/trade deficit M
MM^ 0 The
trade
balance has been in deficit for the
past five years.
— compare surplus
(2) 2 the amount by which sth, especially an amount of
money, is too small or smaller than sth else X
; Sfe A: There’s a deficit of $3 million in the
total needed to complete the project.
300 0 The team has to come back from a
2-0 deficit in the first half. 0:2 W&
Silo
de f ied pt, pp of defy
de-file1 /di'fail/ verb
[VN] (formal or literary) to
make sth dirty or no longer pure, especially sth that people consider important
or holy # jK; & ; fflf H; ^:
Many victims of burglary feel their homes have been
defiled. o
The altar had been defiled by vandals. 7 A $7
► de file ment noun
de-file2 /di'fail;
'diifail/ noun (formal) a
narrow way through mountains Lll de-fine tHf/di'fain/ verb
1 [VN] ~ sth (as sth) to say or explain what the meaning of a
word or phrase is ) W eTA; )
T M X: The term ‘mental illness’ is
difficult to define.
0 Life imprisonment is
defined as 60 years under state law. M
j(\
xLXX 60 2 to describe or show sth accurately
PS
M; ^ 5ft; : [VN] We
need to define the task ahead
very clearly. 3S Cl
flf M fift A /o W fi „ 0 The
difficulty of a problem was defined in terms of how long it took to complete. W7c
MMaE Wo O [V wh-] It is difficult to define what makes him so popular. MM 3
[VN] to show clearly a line, shape or edge ® tH •
S; Rfc:
The mountain
was sharply defined
against the sky.
►de.fin.ableadj.
de’fining vocabulary noun a set of
carefully chosen words used to write the explanations in some dictionaries (
iSH-W ) defin ite o-w /-deftnat/ adj., noun
•
adj. 1 ~ (that ...) sure or certain; unlikely to change #
£ W; fil ^ W; W:
Can you give me a definite
answer by
tomorrow? Afi£p
n^f ? o Is it definite that he’s leaving? o
I’ve heard rumours, but nothing definite. ^ 3\
— H M m, IS. & ^ o 0 a definite offer of a job M —
0 I’m not
sure—I can find out for definite if you
like. WMm o That’s
definite then,
is it? fPJiS®-glWT, 0 They
have very definite
ideas on how to bring up children. A
o note at
certain 2 easily
or clearly seen or understood; obvious 033clear: The look on her
face was a definite
sign that something was wrong.
0 There was a definite feeling that things were
getting worse.. AfT]#IiU£?!l 'If MA® ff0 3 [not before noun] ~ (about sth) | ~ (that ... )
(of a person A) sure that sth is true or that sth is going to happen and
stating it to other people #/e;
WJEii: I’m definite about this.
•
noun [sing.]
(informal) sth
that you are certain about or that you know will happen; sb who is sure to do
sth ft
( ^A ) : ‘We’re
moving our office to
party?’ Yes,
she’s a definite.’ ”
.definite 'article noun (grammar i^A) the word the in English, or a
similar word in another language /Exiis] ( the ) ■— compare indefinite
article
def-in-ite-ly Chm
/-defmatli/ adv.
1 (informal) a way of emphasizing that sth is true and that there
is no doubt about it #|r]
M; ^ M; 5ft ^: I definitely remember sending the letter.
. ftf Hr £B A
7-o 0 ‘Was it what you expected?’ Yes, definitely.’ ” 0 ‘Do
you plan to have
children?’ ‘Definitely not!’
” o Some old people want
help; others most definitely do not. ^ ® A AS I?
111 W Hj, 2 in a way that is
certain or
that shows that you
are certain 5ft#Ji&; 0f35fti&; ftfe: The date of the move
has not been definitely decided