stand up

Formsstands up, standing up, stood up

1. 1
   rise from sittingphrasal verbintransitive

   To rise to a standing position after sitting or lying down.

   On long flights, I try to stand up and stretch every hour.

   When the judge entered, everyone in the courtroom stood up.

   Similarrise

   Oppositesit

   Note

   The literal sense the others grow from, and an old one: Old English said standan up, Middle English standen up, and Old Norse had the parallel standa upp. The up supplies the direction, from chair or bed onto one's feet, and the picture of standing runs through the other uses, from the comic working on their feet to the meeting held without chairs.

2. 2
   miss a datephrasal verbidiomatictransitive

   To skip an arranged meeting with someone, especially a date, without telling them beforehand.

   He waited at the restaurant for an hour before he realized she had stood him up.

   Candidates who stand up their interviewers rarely get a second chance.

   Note

   A phrasal verb that closes around its victim: the person left waiting usually goes between the two words, as in she stood her date up, and a pronoun must go there, so it is he stood me up, never he stood up me. Put for in front of the person instead and you are no longer jilting them but attending them at their wedding.

3. 3
   stage comedynoun · stand-upuncountable

   Comedy in the form of jokes told by a performer standing on a stage.

   She quit her office job to do stand-up full time.

   The theater hosts live music on Fridays and stand-up on Saturdays.

   Note

   The noun is stand-up comedy with its second word dropped, and it stays uncountable like comedy itself: a comic does stand-up, and a club offers music one night and stand-up the next. As a countable noun, a stand-up is the comedian rather than the act, and stand-ups are the people on the bill.

4. 4
   hold truephrasal verbintransitive

   Of an account or the person giving it, to remain believable and consistent, especially under close examination.

   Defense lawyers doubted the confession would stand up in court.

   Few of the study's claims stood up once other labs tried to repeat the experiments.

   Similarhold, survive

   Oppositecollapse

   Note

   The phrase to know is stand up in court, and it is at home in the negative: a story that did not stand up under grilling, evidence that wouldn't stand up in court. Under names the pressure a claim has to survive. This is the "last and endure" meaning carried from materials to claims, with questioning in place of wear.

5. 5
   comedy performernoun · stand-upcountable

   A comedian who performs on stage in front of an audience.

   She worked as a stand-up for ten years before landing a role on a sitcom.

   The festival booked a dozen young stand-ups from across the country.

   Similarcomic, comedian

6. 6
   set uprightphrasal verbtransitive

   To raise something and set it in an upright, standing position.

   After the storm, the crew had to stand up dozens of fallen fence posts.

   The movers stood the mattress up against the wall to save floor space.

   Similarraise, right, erect, upend

7. 7
   honestadjective · stand-up

   Honest and honorable in character and conduct.

   Everyone in the league knew him as a stand-up player who never blamed his teammates.

   Admitting the error before anyone noticed it was a stand-up move.

   Similarhonorable, decent, honest, upright, principled

   Oppositedishonorable, dishonest

   Note

   The hyphen marks the shift from verb to description: the verb is written as two open words, but the adjective and the nouns are written stand-up. In this sense it is a compliment, as in a stand-up guy, and it can be graded, so one person may be more stand-up than another, or the most stand-up player in the league.

8. 8
   short meetingnoun · stand-upcountable

   A short meeting in which everyone remains standing throughout, so that it stays brief.

   During the stand-up, each developer said in a sentence or two what they were working on.

   She keeps her stand-ups under ten minutes by moving long discussions to email.

9. 9
   vertical (design)adjective · stand-up

   Upright in position, or done or performed while on one's feet.

   The coat's stand-up collar shields the neck from the wind.

   Many snacks now come in stand-up pouches that sit neatly on the pantry shelf.

   Similarupright

10. 10
    last wellphrasal verbintransitive

    Of a thing, to last or remain in good condition over a period of time.

    The old stone farmhouse has stood up well through two centuries of harsh winters.

    Cheaper paints often fail to stand up in salty coastal air.

    Similarlast, endure, survive

    Oppositedeteriorate

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