defendants

/D IH0 F EH1 N D AH0 N T S/
noun
  1. 1

    In civil proceedings, the party responding to the complaint; one who is sued and called upon to make satisfaction for a wrong complained of by another.

  2. 2

    In criminal proceedings, the accused.

Source: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/defendant, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/defendants