fire-eater vs defender

fire-eater and defender both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
fire-eater	Yes	No	No	No
defender	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, defender is a hypernym of fire-eater; that is, defender is a word with a broader meaning than fire-eater:

Other hypernyms of fire-eater include guardian, protector, shielder.

fire-eater (noun)	defender (noun)
a performer who pretends to swallow fire	a person who cares for persons or property
a belligerent grouch	a fighter who holds out against attack
a member of a fire department who tries to extinguish fires