defensar

A nonstandard, regionally colloquial variant of defender heard in some Latin American vernacular speech, especially in informal or sports contexts. It isn't recognized by the RAE as standard and doesn't appear in careful writing — defender is always the correct, standard choice.

• Algunos dicen 'voy a defensar mi punto' en vez de 'defender.' — Some people say 'voy a defensar mi punto' instead of 'defender.'
• En el habla coloquial de algunas regiones se oye 'defensar' por 'defender.' — In the colloquial speech of some regions you hear 'defensar' instead of 'defender.'
• Un profesor corregiría 'defensar' y diría que lo correcto es 'defender.' — A teacher would correct 'defensar' and say the correct word is 'defender.'

This is exactly the kind of nonstandard form a learner should recognize but not imitate — always use defender in speech and especially in writing.

Often confused with defender.