What is "defiance"

Defiance \De*fi"ance\, n. [OF. defiance, desfiance, challenge, fr. desfier to challenge, F. d['e]fier. See Defy.]

1. The act of defying, putting in opposition, or provoking to combat; a challenge; a provocation; a summons to combat.

   A war without a just defiance made.
   --Dryden.

   Stood for her cause, and flung defiance down.
   --Tennyson.

2. A state of opposition; willingness to flight; disposition to resist; contempt of opposition.

   He breathed defiance to my ears.
   --Shak.

3. A casting aside; renunciation; rejection. [Obs.] ``Defiance to thy kindness.''
   --Ford.

   To bid defiance, To set at defiance, to defy; to disregard recklessly or contemptuously.
   --Locke.

c.1300, from Old French desfiance "challenge, declaration of war," from desfiant, present participle of desfier (see defy).

n. The feeling, or spirit of being defiant.

1. n. intentionally contemptuous behavior or attitude [syn: rebelliousness]

2. a hostile challenge

3. a defiant act

Defiance may refer to:

Defiance is a 1980 American film starring Jan-Michael Vincent, Art Carney, and Theresa Saldana.

The film, an early Jerry Bruckheimer production, follows a suspended young seaman (Jan-Michael Vincent) who takes up temporary housing in a neighborhood overrun by a gang while waiting for his next orders to ship out. The gang is in dominating control, stealing and robbing at will. No one will press charges due to fear of retribution, so he takes matters into his own hands to combat the growing violence, spurring his fellow neighbors to join him.

The film was unsuccessful upon release, both with critics and the public, though it was shown often on cable movie channels (such as HBO) in the early 1980s.

Defiance is a play by American playwright John Patrick Shanley. It ran Off-Broadway in 2006.

Defiance is a book, first published 1951 in Calcutta, by Savitri Devi. It is a memoir of her arrest, trial, and imprisonment on the charge of distributing National Socialist propaganda in Germany in 1949.

The book is dedicated to Herta Ehlert and opens with quotations from the Bhagawad Gita and Adolf Hitler.

Defiance was an American thrash metal band from Oakland, California. They played a decidedly technical style of thrash originally evoking bands like Testament, though they would later move on to playing in their own unique, more progressive thrash style. After dissolving in 1995, they reformed in 2005 and released their fourth studio album The Prophecy in late 2009. However, they broke up again in 2012.

Defiance are an American anarcho street punk band from Portland, Oregon formed in 1993. Their discography includes five E.P.s, four full-lengths, and one album of out of print and rare songs. They have been cited as major influences on bands such as Anti-Flag and The Unseen.

Defiance is a 2008 World War II film directed by Edward Zwick set during the occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany. The screenplay by Clayton Frohman and Zwick was based on Nechama Tec's 1993 book Defiance: The Bielski Partisans, an account of the Bielski partisans, a group led by Polish Jewish brothers who saved and recruited Jews in Belarus during the Second World War. The film stars Daniel Craig as Tuvia Bielski, Liev Schreiber as Zus Bielski, Jamie Bell as Asael Bielski and George MacKay as Aron Bielski.

Production began in early September 2007. After a limited release, e.g. Los Angeles, New York City, in the United States on December 31, 2008 it went into general release worldwide in January and February 2009.

Defiance is the self-titled debut EP by the American anarcho street punk band Defiance, released on Consensus Reality Records on 1994.

Defiance is Deströyer 666's fourth full-length studio album.

Defiance is Assemblage 23's third studio album, released through Metropolis Records and Accession Records in October 2002. The album contains the song "Document," released as a single prior to the release of Defiance. The album received high appraisal from electronic music magazine ReGen.

Defiance is the second album by the female-fronted industrial metal act Lahannya.

Defiance was a yacht built by George Owen for a syndicate of New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston sportsmen headed by George M. Pynchon to compete in the trials to select the defender for the 1914 America's Cup. The outbreak of World War I in 1914 caused the Cup races for that year to be delayed until 1920.

Defiance is the fifth album by heavy metal band Jack Starr's Burning Starr. Released in 2009 by Magic Circle Music.

Defiance is an American science fiction western drama television series developed by Rockne S. O'Bannon, Kevin Murphy, and Michael Taylor. The series is produced by Universal Cable Productions, in transmedia collaboration with Trion Worlds who have released an MMORPG video game of the same name that is tied in to the series world and mythology.

The show takes place in a post-apocalyptic future on a radically transformed Earth containing new species, some having arrived from space, many others the result of haphazard contamination by Votan terraforming technology which has transformed native flora and fauna in unforeseen ways. As the series opens, Joshua Nolan ( Grant Bowler) works as the local sheriff, or Lawkeeper, for the town of Defiance, originally a mining community where humans and intelligent extraterrestrial species coexist. The show follows Nolan, his adopted alien daughter Irisa ( Stephanie Leonidas), and the town's new mayor, Amanda Rosewater ( Julie Benz) in addition to an ensemble of actors portraying different characters in the growing town.

The series was broadcast in the United States on the cable channel Syfy and in various international markets. It premiered on April 15, 2013, in the United States and that same week in most countries that picked up the series. Defiance was renewed for a 13 episode third season on September 25, 2014, which premiered on June 12, 2015.

On October 16, 2015, the show was cancelled by Syfy citing financial reasons after having completed its third season. However, the companion video game continues to be supported; on March 1, 2016, Trion Worlds announced a major update for the game, promoted as season four of Defiance.

Defiance is a science fiction-themed persistent world massively multiplayer online third-person shooter developed by Trion Worlds. Defiance takes place on a terraformed Earth several decades into the future. It is a tie-in to the Syfy show of the same name. The game was released on April 2, 2013, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was also released on Steam. The game went free-to-play on 4 June 2014 for PC, 14 August 2014 for PS3 and 18 November 2014 for Xbox 360.

The second season of the American science fiction television series Defiance premiered on Syfy in its new Thursday night timeslot June 19, 2014 and ended on August 28, 2014. The show consisted a total of 13 episodes. The show stars Grant Bowler, Julie Benz, Stephanie Leonidas, Tony Curran, Jamie Murray, Graham Greene, Jesse Rath and James Murray.

The series is produced by Universal Cable Productions, in transmedia collaboration with Trion Worlds, who have released an MMORPG video game of the same name which is tied in to the series.

The first season of the American science fiction television series Defiance premiered on Syfy on Monday April 15, 2013 and ended on July 8, 2013 with a total of 12 episodes. The show stars Grant Bowler, Julie Benz, Stephanie Leonidas, Tony Curran, Jamie Murray, Graham Greene and Mia Kirschner.

The series is produced by Universal Cable Productions, in transmedia collaboration with Trion Worlds, who have released an MMORPG video game of the same name which is tied in to the series.

The third and final season of the American science fiction television series Defiance premiered on Syfy on June 12, 2015, concluded on August 28, 2015, and consisted a total of 13 episodes. The show stars Grant Bowler, Julie Benz, Stephanie Leonidas, Tony Curran, Jaime Murray, Graham Greene, Jesse Rath, Anna Hopkins and Nichole Galicia.

The series is produced by Universal Cable Productions, in transmedia collaboration with Trion Worlds, who have released an MMORPG video game of the same name which is tied in to the series.