How to Use defense mechanism in a Sentence

defense mechanism

noun
  • She is projecting her anger on you as a defense mechanism.
  • The kind that with a turn of the head became a self-defense mechanism.
    The Salt Lake Tribune, 17 Oct. 2020
  • She's been through a lot in her life and put up walls as a defense mechanism.
    Marie Claire, 2 Aug. 2021
  • My sense of humor is kind of born out of a self-defense mechanism.
    Marcus Jones, EW.com, 7 Dec. 2019
  • Tourist guides say, with a flourish, that the metal rings were a defense mechanism against tigers who went for the neck.
    New York Times, 5 Dec. 2020
  • This defense mechanism is a great way to fool a predator.
    Traci Howerton, NOLA.com, 13 Aug. 2020
  • But while studying the role of the brain’s immune cells in Alzheimer’s disease, his group found that the dense plaques might be part of the brain's defense mechanism.
    Jackie Rocheleau, Forbes, 27 Apr. 2021
  • Fever acts as a kind of defense mechanism for our bodies.
    Gemma Tarlach, Discover Magazine, 22 Jan. 2014
  • For the date itself, Jason and Clare take a stroll down to a campfire and talk about humor as a defense mechanism.
    Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 21 Oct. 2020
  • It’s a weird peacock flex mixed with a defense mechanism.
    Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 8 Apr. 2021
  • For us by us The framers saw impeachment as a defense mechanism, not a punitive one.
    Ephrat Livni, Quartz, 14 Dec. 2019
  • Rachel suggests that Ben shut down as a defense mechanism.
    Lia Beck, refinery29.com, 21 Dec. 2020
  • One of the keys to their success is an ingenious defense mechanism: slime.
    Maya Wei-Haas, Smithsonian, 27 Feb. 2017
  • Which is the body's defense mechanism, but also a good lesson in taking you out of your comfort zone.
    Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Oct. 2019
  • Is living in fear a good defense mechanism or a hindrance?
    Dana Scott, azcentral, 4 June 2020
  • That's where the carnivorous cobra lily comes in—and their self defense mechanism could also save the rest of the plants in your garden.
    Elizabeth Gulino, House Beautiful, 19 July 2019
  • Hatching seemed to be the frogs’ broad-spectrum defense mechanism.
    Suzie Hodges, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Sep. 2022
  • But instead of ejecting evil spirits from their body, the creatures puke their guts out as a defense mechanism.
    Corryn Wetzel, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Oct. 2020
  • Other sea slugs that eat poisonous sponges store that poison in their bodies to use as a defense mechanism.
    Rose Eveleth, WIRED, 31 Dec. 2022
  • Those antibodies and immune cells are the defense mechanism the body uses to attack the virus.
    Tribune News Service, oregonlive, 26 Jan. 2021
  • It’s a defense mechanism, as employees may feel safer at home.
    Melinda Fouts, Ph.d., Forbes, 22 Oct. 2021
  • With all of this harsh reality, what may have come off as distanced to some was perhaps a defense mechanism for the sake of self-survival.
    Jem Aswad, Variety, 20 Jan. 2022
  • The Book of Boba Fett, however, has no defense mechanism, much to its detriment.
    Graeme McMillan, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Jan. 2022
  • Stress is one of evolution’s greatest tricks and our brain’s best defense mechanism.
    Jeff Stibel, USA TODAY, 12 June 2018
  • Find out more about the hawkmoth’s NSFW defense mechanism by listening to this week’s episode.
    Popsci Staff, Popular Science, 6 May 2020
  • This was, of course, a defense mechanism, secured with much false bravado and nervous laughter.
    Sylvia Poggioli, The New York Review of Books, 29 Mar. 2020
  • And humor can be the defense mechanism our bodies need to become more resilient in the face of adversity.
    Heather Greenwood Davis, Family, 22 Dec. 2020
  • In humans, for example, a fever is a defense mechanism designed to raise the body temperature to kill a virus.
    Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 19 Mar. 2020
  • Yes, female carpenter bees will sting you as a defense mechanism.
    Tiffany Acosta, The Arizona Republic, 13 May 2024
  • As a defense mechanism, ladybugs secrete a substance that can cause painful mouth and stomach ulcers, Watkins says.
    Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 30 May 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'defense mechanism.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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