put on the defensive

基本解释

If you put people on the defensive, they’re much less likely to understand or embrace your choices.
如果你将人们置于防卫的状态，他们将更不易去理解或接受你的选择了。
This immediately put her on the defensive, and with one of those sudden impulses of reprisal to which she was liable she gave him a little push from her.
苔丝立即醒了，防范起来，她出于一种突然出现的报复冲动，没有细想就轻轻地把他一推。
Put on the defensive by the FDA's seizure of e-cigarette shipments at U.S. borders, makers of these products have challenged in federal district court the agency's jurisdiction over this situation.
FDA在美国边境缴获了这些装船的产品，生产商在联邦区法院辩称，FDA对此事的处理已经超越了它的权限。

In the short term, analyst David Gergen believes the outbursts at the town hall meetings have put the Obama administration on the defensive.

But it is the first time that the frontrunner was put on the defensive so often.
NPR: Clinton No Longer Unscathed Front-Runner
Every election cycle, candidates that endorse (or even say nice things about) the FAIR tax wind up getting attacked and put on the defensive.
FORBES: Is The FAIR Tax A Political Liability?
Put on the defensive, the government is reportedly seeking to modify portions of its petition that suggest it is favoring one brother over the other.
FORBES: The Ambani brothers are at it again.