Talk:in defense

RFD discussion: June–October 2022
RFC'er suggested RFDing. Could be a smart call Zumbacool (talk) 17:30, 18 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Delete: this is just + . — Sgconlaw (talk) 11:32, 20 June 2022 (UTC)
 * I’m uncertain. It’s tempting to say it’s SOP but what sense of in would this be using? Overlordnat1 (talk) 11:56, 20 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Preposition sense 1: Used to indicate location, inclusion, or position within spatial, temporal or other limits. In this usage, it's referring to being in the position of defending. The current definition is poor in three ways:
 * It's incoherent, because it's defined as a verb ("to defend oneself") and an adjective ("defensively").
 * It's inaccurate, because one can act in defence of another. Who or what one is defending is either specified or inferred from the context.
 * It's SOP, because the correct definition is just +  (in any sense).
 * Delete. Theknightwho (talk) 15:43, 20 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Convincingly argued. Delete. Overlordnat1 (talk) 17:53, 20 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Delete. &mdash; Fytcha〈 T | L | C 〉 19:00, 20 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Keep. The definition might be awfully incoherent right now, but the term itself still merits inclusion. Figurative senses also exist (e.g. "in defense of an ideology," etc.), and as has been pointed out above it's unclear what sense of "in" is being used. I'll even throw in that it's a pretty fixed and common phrase. Imetsia (talk) 18:26, 21 June 2022 (UTC)
 * It's been explained which sense of is being used, but could you give an example of figurative definition?
 * It's not a fixed phrase, though - you can insert adjectives between and . Theknightwho (talk) 13:38, 22 June 2022 (UTC)
 * An example figurative definition might be "With the goal of legitimizing or justifying (an idea, one's actions, etc.)." And with such a definition, it's not clear what sense of is being used. It can't be "in the position of defending an idea, one's actions, etc." That stretches the idea of "spatial, temporal or other limits" too far. I also don't buy that you can add adjectives between  and  in the figurative definition. Even example phrases like "in impassioned defense of his ideology" or "in my honest defense" sound wrong. Imetsia (talk) 22:57, 22 June 2022 (UTC)
 * That's just one way in which you can defend something. It's still literal. You can add adjectives: in heated defence, in full defence, in impassioned defence etc. All of those can be seen in widespread use with a quick Google search. Theknightwho (talk) 02:01, 25 June 2022 (UTC)
 * That's just one way in which you can defend something. It's still literal. You can add adjectives: in heated defence, in full defence, in impassioned defence etc. All of those can be seen in widespread use with a quick Google search. Theknightwho (talk) 02:01, 25 June 2022 (UTC)


 * Delete. Improve "in" if necessary. (Perhaps I will attempt to check in for missing senses myself later.) - -sche (discuss) 02:09, 25 July 2022 (UTC)


 * Deleted. - TheDaveRoss  14:04, 27 October 2022 (UTC)