On-the-defensive Sentence Examples

Every time he spoke to this guy, he found himself on the defensive.

Dean managed to whistle down a young boy who agreed to use his snow blower on Dean's unfinished sidewalk, for an amount Dean considered ridiculous, but he knew he needed to get up to snuff on Shipton's fall before he was totally on the defensive.

After helping the Spartans to invade Boeotia during the Corinthian War (395-94), the Phocians were placed on the defensive.

Frederick acted on the defensive with consummate skill, and the capture of the Prussian fortress of Kolberg on Christmas day O.S.

The left column under Colonel (afterwards Sir) Evelyn Wood, which had done excellent work, found itself obliged to act on the defensive after the disaster to the centre column.2 For a time an invasion of Natal was feared.

The only chance of the invaders achieving their object after the first week of land fighting depended on their being joined by very substantial additional forces in a region where a belligerent fighting on the defensive in home territory, as the Osmanlis were, enjoyed marked strategical and tactical advantages.

The advance continued to Colmar, where the elector, who was now in command of the Germans, stood on the defensive with forces equal to Turenne's own.

Thenceforward the Confederacy was purely on the defensive.

The French, not yet certain whether or not they would retain Algeria, remained on the defensive.

The disposition adopted was one which is found recurring in many sea-fights of the middle ages where a fleet had to fight on the defensive.

Yet it always remained on the defensive and even so was lacking in energy.

Strategically no less than politically, Turkey was on the defensive.

When the opposition has to resort to petty insults, you know they're on the defensive.

The word has never quite lost this connotation of standing on the defensive and rebutting criticism; e.g.

Though the majority of college students conduct themselves responsibly enough at any social occasion, it's always wise to be on the defensive and watch out for others as well.

How do I approach him without putting him on the defensive?