“Defenses” or “Defences”—What's the difference?

Usage by country

Where each spelling is used

Of the 12 countries below, 3 prefer “defenses” and 7 prefer “defences”. Usage levels are out of 100; the more common spelling in each country is in bold.

Usage level out of 100 (if available).
Country	defenses	defences	Preference
United States	97	3	“defenses”
United Kingdom	18	82	“defences”
India	32	68	“defences”
Philippines	89	11	“defenses”
Canada	63	37	“defenses”
Australia	29	71	“defences”
Liberia	0	0	Not enough data
Ireland	31	69	“defences”
New Zealand	45	55	“defences”
Jamaica	49	51	“defences”
Trinidad & Tobago	0	100	“defences”
Guyana	0	0	Not enough data

Usage

Examples in context

Real sentences for each spelling. Hover an example to copy it.

“defenses”

…ironclad warships fought against the defenses of Charleston, South Carolina, between…
…from Ticonderoga and the surrounding defenses.
…projected performance of Soviet air defenses, combined with the 1960 U-2…
…Defense's Management Committee in September 1949.
Both teams' defenses showed up late, and Roethlisberger…
On July 10 the naval defenses of the James River were…
…as chief engineer of the defenses of Washington by Lt. Col.…
The Japanese defenses were sited on reverse slopes,…
The Harbor Defenses of Chesapeake Bay (as renamed…
…could fire on the island's defenses.

“defences”

Such manic defences were however for Riviere a…
…was appointed to improve the defences of Plymouth.
Two successful title defences
…that distracted and pinned-down German defences while the real attack occurring…
…commander of the Boulogne's coastal defences, from 26 January 1941 onwards.
…under OSDEF (Orkney & Shetland Defences) until 16 September 1943, when…
…one of Black's most reliable defences to the Rubinstein System.
…advanced round the entrenched Ottoman defences, entered the city to make…
…part of the Fremantle Harbour defences prior to World War I.
…for the Dockyard and its Defences to become a World Heritage

Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license.

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