defencelessde‧fence‧less British English, defenseless American English /dɪˈfensləs/ adjective 
- He closed the door closed behind him, leaving her cruelly defenceless against his bitter attack.
- In the first weeks of the war, dozens of defenceless ships were sunk by submarines.
- No one is doing anything to help these poor defenceless children.
- Afterwards, he sat and watched her: drinking in the picture of her despoiled, defenceless beauty.
- Hutt panicked and struck again and again and again until his defenceless victim fell to the floor.
- If she had allowed him in, she would have been defenceless.
- Not only were they hungry, but they also felt defenceless against more allied bombing.
- Small but dangerously exciting trickles of pleasure were still winging their way through her virtually defenceless body.
- The slim man had seized the whip, and after two more murderous kicks, commenced to thrash the defenceless coachman.
- Then defenceless, all we could do was fight the panic and slowly slip away.
- When one finds defenceless prey, others will soon come.
easy to attack or harm► vulnerable someone who is vulnerable can easily be harmed or attacked: · a small vulnerable child in need of protection· Wild animals are at their most vulnerable when they are asleep.vulnerable to: · The virus leaves sufferers vulnerable to a range of infections.
► defenceless British /defenseless American not strong enough or not able to protect yourself against an attack: · No one is doing anything to help these poor defenceless children.· While the mother bird searches for food she has to leave her chicks alone and defenseless in the nest.defenceless against: · He closed the door behind him, leaving her cruelly defenceless against his bitter attack.
having no weapons► unarmed someone who is unarmed is not carrying a gun or other weapon: · It was later discovered that the hijacker was unarmed.unarmed civilians: · The army allegedly shot dead over 300 unarmed civilians.
► defenceless British /defenseless American a person, place, ship etc that is defenceless has no weapons and cannot defend itself against an attack: · In the first weeks of the war, dozens of defenceless ships were sunk by submarines.· The stick splintered under the blow and Alex was left defenseless.
noundefence/defensedefendantdefenderdefensivenessadjectivedefenceless/defenselessdefensible ≠ indefensibledefensiveadverbdefensibly ≠ indefensiblydefensivelyverbdefend
a defenceless old lady