Defend
Defend verb - To continue to declare to be true or proper despite opposition or objections.
Usage example: she will pigheadedly defend any claim regardless of all evidence to the contrary
Support is a synonym for defend in action topic. In some cases you can use "Support" instead the word "Defend" as a verb or a noun, when it comes to topics like advocate, justify, fight for, show support for.
Support
Support verb - To continue to declare to be true or proper despite opposition or objections.
Usage example: we support the students' right to speak out on local issues that affect them
Defend is a synonym for support in advocate topic. You can use "Defend" instead the word "Support" as a verb or a noun, if it concerns topics such as vote for.
Mutual synonyms
Common collocations
Both words in one sentence
- A furious barrage of counter-arguments that support/defend one's ship - only effective against one or two attacks not multiple (See Backfire Raid).
Source: Just For Fun / The Ship Yard -
They'll defend and support each other against anything and anyone, and several times drop outsiders for the sake of the gang.
Source: Undying Loyalty -
Ar nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star (PS3/Vita): Thousands of years later, a colony of people on the starship Soreil struggle against the hostile Sharls, and the population is split between two factions that support or defend themselves against them.
Source: Video Game / EXA_PICO
Cite this Source
Support and Defend. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/defend/support
Defend & Support. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/defend/support>.
Support or Defend. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/defend/support.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "defend" and "support" have occurred on timeline