Stand

Pronunciation

• IPA: /stænd/
• Rhymes: -ænd

Origin

From Middle English standen, from Old English standan ("to stand, occupy a place, be valid, stand good, be, exist, take place, consist, be fixed, remain undisturbed, stand still, cease to move, remain without motion, stop, maintain one’s position, not yield to pressure, reside, abide, continue, remain, not to fall, be upheld"), from Proto-Germanic *standaną ("to stand").

Full definition of stand

Verb

1. To position or be positioned physically.
1. (intransitive) To support oneself on the feet in an erect position.
   Here I stand, wondering what to do next.
• 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 5, Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps,..., and the light of the reflector fell full upon her.
2. (intransitive) To rise to one’s feet; to stand up.
   Stand up, walk to the refrigerator, and get your own snack.
3. (intransitive) To remain motionless.
   Do not leave your car standing in the road.
• Bible, Matthew ii, 9The star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
• 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 23, The slightest effort made the patient cough. He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.
4. (intransitive) To be placed in an upright or vertical orientation.
• 1879, Richard Jefferies, The Amateur Poacher Chapter 1, They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely.
• Orwell Animal Farm|1He seized the gun which always stood in a corner of his bedroom...
5. (transitive) To place in an upright or standing position.
   He stood the broom in a corner and took a break.
6. (intransitive) To occupy or hold a place; to be situated or located.
   Paris stands on the Seine.
7. (intransitive) To measure when erect on the feet.
• Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)Six feet two, as I think, he stands.
2. To position or be positioned mentally.
1. (intransitive, followed by to + infinitive`) To be positioned to gain or lose.
   He stands to get a good price for the house.
2. (transitive, negative) To tolerate.
   I can’t stand when people don’t read the instructions.   I can’t stand him.
• 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 7, “… if you call my duds a ‘livery’ again there'll be trouble. It's bad enough to go around togged out like a life saver on a drill day, but I can stand that 'cause I'm paid for it. What I won't stand is to have them togs called a livery. …”
3. (intransitive) To maintain one's ground; to be acquitted; not to fail or yield; to be safe.
• Spectatorreaders by whose judgment I would stand or fall
4. (intransitive) To maintain an invincible or permanent attitude; to be fixed, steady, or firm; to take a position in resistance or opposition.
• Bible, Esther viii. 11The king granted the Jews ... to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life.
• Robert South (1634–1716)the standing pattern of their imitation
5. (intransitive, obsolete) To be in some particular state; to have essence or being; to be; to consist.
• Bible, Hebrews ix. 10sacrifices ... which stood only in meats and drinks
• John Dryden (1631-1700)Accomplish what your signs foreshow;
  I stand resigned, and am prepared to go.
• Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)Thou seest how it stands with me, and that I may not tarry.
3. To position or be positioned socially.
1. (intransitive, cricket) To act as an umpire.
2. (transitive) To undergo; withstand; hold up.
   The works of Shakespeare have stood the test of time.
• John Dryden (1631-1700)Love stood the siege.
• Joseph Addison (1672-1719)Bid him disband his legions, ...
  And stand the judgment of a Roman senate.
• Alexander Pope (1688-1744)He stood the furious foe.
3. (intransitive, British) To seek election.
   He is standing for election to the local council.
• Izaak Walton (c.1594-1683)He stood to be elected one of the proctors of the university.
4. (intransitive) To be valid.
   What I said yesterday still stands.
5. (transitive) To oppose, usually as a team, in competition.
• 1957, Matt Christopher, Basketball Sparkplug, chapter 7 http://books.google.com/books?id=_WYkg6VyRXIC&pg=PT22&dq=stand:"Kim, Jack, and I will stand you guys," Jimmie Burdette said. ¶ "We'll smear you!" laughed Ron.
• circa 1973 R. J. Childerhose, Hockey Fever in Goganne Falls, page 95 http://books.google.com/books?id=Qqo_GB2hpPcC&q=%22will+stand+you%22:The game stopped while sides were sorted out. Andy did the sorting. "Okay," he said. "Jimmy is coming out. He and Gaston and Ike and me will stand you guys."
• 1978, Louis Sachar, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, chapter 21 http://books.google.com/books?id=Sd8CBkKmQ1UC&pg=PA86&dq=stand:"Hey, Louis," Dameon shouted. "Do you want to play kickball?" ¶ ""All right," said Louis. "Ron and I will both play."... ¶ "Ron and I will stand everybody!" Louis announced.
6. To cover the expense of; to pay for.
   to stand a treat
7. (intransitive) To have or maintain a position, order, or rank; to be in a particular relation.
   Christian charity, or love, stands first in the rank of gifts.
8. (intransitive) To be consistent; to agree; to accord.
• Philip Massinger (1583-1640)Doubt me not; by heaven, I will do nothing
  But what may stand with honour.
9. (intransitive) To appear in court.
10. (intransitive, nautical) Of a ship or its captain, to steer, sail (in a specified direction, for a specified destination etc.).
• 1630, John Smith, True Travels, in Kupperman 1988, p. 40:To repaire his defects, hee stood for the coast of Calabria, but hearing there was six or seven Galleyes at Mesina hee departed thence for Malta ...
11. (intransitive) To remain without ruin or injury.
• John Dryden (1631-1700)My mind on its own centre stands unmoved.
• Lord Byron (1788-1824)The ruin'd wall
  Stands when its wind-worn battlements are gone.

Usage notes

In older works, standen is found as a past participle of this verb; it is now archaic.

(tolerate) This is almost always found in a negative form such as can’t stand, or No-one can stand… In this sense it is a catenative verb that takes the gerund -ing or infinitive to.... See .

Derived terms

Noun

1. The act of standing.
• SpectatorI took my stand upon an eminence ... to look into their several ladings.
2. A defensive position or effort.
3. A resolute, unwavering position; firm opinion; action for a purpose in the face of opposition.They took a firm stand against copyright infringement.
4. A period of performance in a given location or venue.They have a four-game stand at home against the Yankees.They spent the summer touring giving 4 one-night stands a week.
5. A device to hold something upright or aloft.He set the music upon the stand and began to play.an umbrella stand; a hat-stand
6. The platform on which a witness testifies in court; the witness stand or witness box.She took the stand and quietly answered questions.
7. A particular grove or other group of trees or shrubs.This stand of pines is older than the one next to it.
8. (forestry) A contiguous group of trees sufficiently uniform in age-class distribution, composition, and structure, and growing on a site of sufficiently uniform quality, to be a distinguishable unit.
9. A standstill, a motionless state, as of someone confused, or a hunting dog who has found game.
• 1625, Francis Bacon, “Of Truth”, EssaysOne of the later school of the Grecians, examineth the matter, and is at a stand, to think what should be in it, that men should love lies; where neither they make for pleasure, as with poets, nor for advantage, as with the merchant; but for the lie’s sake.
• 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, I.168:Antonia's patience now was at a stand—
  "Come, come, 't is no time now for fooling there,"
  She whispered ...
10. A small building, booth, or stage, as in a bandstand or hamburger stand.
11. A designated spot where someone or something may stand or wait.a taxi stand
• ShakespeareI have found you out a stand most fit,
  Where you may have such vantage on the duke,
  He shall not pass you.
12. (US, dated) The situation of a shop, store, hotel, etc.a good, bad, or convenient stand for business
13. (sports) grandstand often in plural
• 2011, November 11, Rory Houston, Estonia 0-4 Republic of Ireland, The end of the opening period was relatively quite sic as Vassiljev's desperate shot from well outside the penalty area flew into the stand housing the Irish supporters and then Ward's ctoss sic was gathered by goalkeeper Pareiko.
14. (cricket) A partnership.
• 2012, May 21, Tom Fordyce, England v West Indies: Hosts cruise home in Lord's Test, England wrapped up a five-wicket victory in the first Test as a stand of 132 between Alastair Cook and Ian Bell saw off an early West Indies charge.
15. (military, plural often stand) A single set, as of arms.
• 1927, Herbert Asbury, The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld, Paragon House (1990), ISBN 1-55778-348-9, page 170:The police and troops captured eleven thousand stand of arms, including muskets and pistols, together with several thousand bludgeons and other weapons.
16. (obsolete) Rank; post; station; standing.
• DanielFather, since your fortune did attain
  So high a stand, I mean not to descend.
17. (dated) A state of perplexity or embarrassment.to be at a stand what to do
18. A young tree, usually reserved when other trees are cut; also, a tree growing or standing upon its own root, in distinction from one produced from a scion set in a stock, either of the same or another kind of tree.
19. (obsolete) A weight of from two hundred and fifty to three hundred pounds, used in weighing pitch.

Derived terms

Anagrams

• dasn't