D E F 
r.n army.—-End Marlb’rough’s work, and finifh the de¬ 
feat. Addifon.- —ACt of deftru&ion; deprivation : 
A king, upon whole life 
A damn’d defeat was made. Shakefpeare. 
To DEFE'AT, v. a. To overthrow : to undo.—They 
invaded Ireland, and were defeated by the lord Mount- 
joy. Bacon. 
Ye gods, ye make the weak moft ftrong, 
Therein, ye gods, ye tyrants do defeat. Shakefpeare. 
To fruftrate ; to abolifh ; to undo ; to change.—He finds 
himfelf naturally to dread a fuperior Being, that can de¬ 
feat all his defigns, and difappoint all his hopes. Tillotfon. 
To his accufations 
He pleaded dill not guilty, and alleg’d 
Many fharp reafons to defeat the law. Shakefpeare. 
DEFEAT'URE,/! Change of feature; alteration of 
countenance : not in i j'e: 
Grief hath chang’d me, 
And careful hours, with time’s deformed hand, 
Hath written ft range defeatures in my face. Shakefpeare. 
[From to defeat. ] Fruftration : 
Certes, fome hellifh fury, or fome fiend, 
This mifehief fram’d for their firft love’s defeature. Spenf. 
To DE'FECATE, v. a. [ defaco, Lat.] To purge li¬ 
quors from lees orfoulnefs; to purify; tocleanfe.—The 
blood is not fufficiently defecated or clarified, but remains 
muddy. Harvey. 
Self-taught and voluntary Hies 
The defecated liquor, through the vent 
Afcending; then, by downward traCt convey’d. 
Spouts into fubjeCt veffels lovely clear. P/filips. 
To purify from any extraneous or noxious mixture ; to 
clear; to brighten.—We defecate the notion from mate- 
. riality, and abftraCt quantity, place, and all kind of cor¬ 
poreity, from it. Glanville. 
DE'FECATE, adj. Purged from lees or foulnefs.— 
This liquor was very defecate , and of a pleafing golden 
■colour. Boyle. 
DE'FECA'TION, f. [ defecatic , Lat.] Purification; 
the act of clearing or purifying.—The fpleen and liver 
are obftruCted in tjieir offices of defecation , whence vicious 
and dreggifti blood. Harvey. 
DEF£'CT,yi \_dfeElus, Lat.] Want; abfence of fome- 
thing neceffary ; infufficiency ; the fault oppofed to fu- 
perfluity.—Errors have been corrected, and defeEls fup- 
plied. Davies. 
Had this ftrange energy been lefs, 
DefeEl had been as fatal as excefs. Blackmore, 
Failing; imperfection: 
Oft ’tis feen 
Our mean fecures us, and our mere defeEis 
Prove our commodities. Shakefpeare. 
A fault; miftake ; error.—We had rather follow the 
perfections of them whom we like not, than in defeEls re- 
iemble them whom we love. Hooker. 
Truft not yourfelf; but, your defeEls to know. 
Make ufe of ev’ry friend—and ev’ry foe. Pope. 
Any natural imperfection; a blemifii ; a failure, with¬ 
out direCt implication of any thing too little.—Men, 
through fome defeEl in the organs, want words, yet fail 
not to exprefs their univerfal ideas by figns. Locke. 
“ Few men are fenfible of their own defects.” The 
Latins fay. Situs cuique crepitus bene olet. We eafily find 
excufes or pretexts to glofs over our own frailties, if we 
are fenfible of them ; but how many are there, who nei¬ 
ther are nor will be convinced they have any : yet, while 
they overlook their own, they are bufy at finding out and 
expofing thofe of their neighbours 1 
To DEFE'CTj v. n. To be deficient; to fall fliort of; 
D E F 
to fail. Obfolete .•—Some left themfelves in attempts above 
humanity; yet the enquiries of moft defeEled by the way, 
and tired within the fober circumference of knowledge. 
Brown. 
DEFECTIBI'LITY, f. The ftate of failing; defi¬ 
ciency; imperfection.—The corruption of things cor¬ 
ruptible depends upon the intrinfical defeElibility of the 
connection or union of the parts of things corporeal. Hale. 
DEFECT'IBLE, adj. ImperfeCt; deficient; wanting. 
■—The extraordinary perfons, thus highly favoured, were 
for a great part of their lives in a defElible condition. Hale. 
DEFEC'TION, f. [defeElio , Lat.] Want; failure. A 
failing away ; apoftacy.—This defection and falling-away 
from God was firft found in angels, and afterwards in 
men. Raleigh. —An abandoning of a king, or ftate ; re¬ 
volt.—Neither can this be meant of evil governors or 
tyrants, but of fome perverfenefs and defeEiion in the very 
nation itfelf. Bacon. 
DEFEC'TIVE, adj ft [from dfcEHvus, Lat.] Wanting 
the juft quantity.—Nor will poliihed amber, although it 
fend forth a grofs and corporeal exhalement, be found a 
long time defeElive upon the exaCteft feales. Brown. —Full 
of defeCts; imperfect; not fuflicient; not adequate to 
the purpofe.—It will very little help to cure my igno¬ 
rance, that this is the belt of four or five hypothefes pro- 
pofed, which are all defeElive. Locke. —Faulty ; vitious ; 
blameable.—Our tragedy writers have been notorioufty 
defeElive in giving proper fentiments to the perfons they 
introduce. Addifon.- 
DEFECTIVE or Deficient Nouns, [in grammar.] 
Indeclinable nouns, or fuch as want a number, or fome 
particular cafe. See Grammar. 
DEFEC'TIVE VERB, [in grammar.] A verb which 
wants fome of its tenfes. 
DEFEC'TI VENESS,yi Want; the ftate of being im- 
perfeCt ; faultinefs.—'The lownefs often opens the build¬ 
ing in breadth, or the dfeElivenefs of fome other particu- 
lar makes any fingle part appear in perfection. Addifon. 
DEFEN'CE,yi \_deftnfio , Lat.] Guard; protection; 
fecurity.—The Lord is your protection and ftrong ftay, a 
defence from heat, and a cover from the fun. EccleJ'. xxxiv. 
16.—Be thou my ftrong rock for an houfe of defence to 
fave me. Pfdlmxxx i. 2.—Vindication; juftification ; apo¬ 
logy.'—Alexander beckoned with his hand, and wouid 
have made his defence unto the people. AEls , xix. 33. 
The youthful prince 
With fcorn replied, and made this bold defence. Dryden. 
Prohibition : this is a fenfe merely French.—Severe de¬ 
fences may be made againft wearing any linen'under a cer¬ 
tain breadth. Temple. —Reliftance. In fieges, any tiling 
that ferves to fereen the foldiers, or cover the works. 
See the article. Fortification. Military (kill: 
He is (faid he) a man of great defence , , 
Expert in battles, and in deedes of armes. Spenfer. 
DEFEN'CE, f. in law, fignifies, not a juftification, 
protection, or guard, which is its popular fignification ; 
but merely an oppo/ing or denial by the defendant, of 
the truth or validity of the plaintiff’s complaint. It is 
a general affertion that the plaintiff hath no ground of 
action, which affertion is afterwards extended and main¬ 
tained in the defendant’s plea. For it would be ridicu¬ 
lous to fuppofe that the defendant comes and defends 
(or in the vulgar acceptation, juftifies) the force and in¬ 
jury, in one line, and pleads that he is not guilty of the 
trefpafs complained of, in the next. And therefore in 
actions of dower, where the demandant does not count 
of any injury done, but merely demands her endow¬ 
ment ; and in afiifes of land, where alfo there is no in¬ 
jury alleged, but merely a queftion of right ftated for 
the determination of the recognitors or jury, the tenant 
makes no fuch defence. In writs of entry, where no in¬ 
jury is ftated in the count, but merely the right of the 
demandant and the defective title of the-tenant, the te¬ 
nant comes and defends or denies his right, jusfuum\ that 
