well-defencedadj.

1534 G. Joye tr. U. Zwingli Dauids Psalter xxxi. f. 41 Be my stronge rocke, and wel defenced house [L. Esto mihi in Deum protectorem, et in domum refugii] wheryn thou wilt saue me.

1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique i. ii. 2 Wee must dresse some well defensed piece of ground or greenplot for fruits.

1675 S. Clarke Lives & Deaths most Eminent Persons 10 Pharaoh..thought himself most safe in his own Country by reason of the well-defenced situation thereof.

1865 A. Thomas On Guard III. xli. 141 It was perhaps natural, that others should..think that, because his first guard had been broken down, that evil should have entered in to the once well-defenced citadel.

1927 Jrnl. N. China Branch Asiatic Soc. 58 3 There are on this side a well-defenced fortress, a strong wall, and a deep ditch; so that the Mongols never succeeded in taking it.

1992 Economist 11 July (Suppl.) 21/2 Even Switzerland seems to be moving..away from its hedgehog pose of well-defenced non-involvement.