# stand

Pronunciation: say "STAND" /stænd/

## Verb

1. To support oneself upright on the feet, neither sitting nor lying.
   - Simple: To be on your feet with your body upright, not sitting or lying down.
   - _Every seat on the train was taken, so she had to stand the whole way home._
   - _Can you stand on one leg for a minute?_
2. Of a building, town, monument or other fixed thing, to be situated in a place; by extension, of a figure or count, to be at a given level.
   - Simple: To be located in a place, or to be at a certain level or amount.
   - _A statue of the poet stands in the square._
   - _The new library will stand on the site of the old bus station._
3. To be shortened from a longer word or name, or to symbolize or signify something, followed by for.
   - Simple: To be a short form of a longer name, or to mean or show something, used with "for".
   - _On the map, each blue dot stands for a public library._
   - _The initials on the old trunk stand for the name of its first owner._
4. To rise to one's feet, usually with 'up'.
   - Simple: To get up onto your feet from sitting or lying down.
   - _He stood to shake my hand._
   - _The audience will stand as the national anthem begins._
5. To tolerate or bear a person, habit or situation, mostly in the negative with 'can't' or 'won't'.
   - Simple: To put up with something or someone, almost always in can't stand.
   - _He can't stand being told what to do._
   - _How do you stand that noise all day?_
6. To be fixed, steady or firm in attitude, holding a position in resistance; often with firm, fast, for or against.
   - Simple: To stay firm and not give way, or to take a position against something.
   - _The villagers stood together against the developers._
   - _Stand firm, and they will back down._
7. To hold a place in an order or relation, ranked or situated; often with first, where or how.
   - Simple: To be in a certain place in an order, a ranking, or a relationship.
   - _As things stand, we cannot afford it._
   - _He stood high in the king's favor._
11. Of an object, to be upright, on its end or base; or to put something in that position.
   - Simple: Of a thing, to be upright on its end or base, or to put it that way.
   - _The vase stood on the windowsill for years._
   - _Stand the bottles upright in the box so they don't leak._
12. Of a person halted or a thing left in place, to stay where it is without moving.
   - Simple: To stay in one place without moving, of a person, a car, or a thing.
   - _The car has stood in the driveway since March._
   - _Let the dough stand for an hour._
13. To survive a test, attack or judgment without failing; to hold up.
   - Simple: To get through a test or attack without failing, as in 'stand the test of time'.
   - _Few of their predictions stood the test of time._
   - _Can the evidence stand scrutiny?_
14. To be a candidate in an election, usually with 'for' the office or 'as' the party. *(British)*
   - Simple: To be a candidate in an election, in British use.
   - _Only four candidates stood in the by-election._
   - _He decided not to stand again._
15. Of an offer, statement, record or decision, to remain valid or in force.
   - Simple: To still be true or in force, not changed or taken back.
   - _The agreement stands until both sides sign a new one._
   - _Let the decision stand._
17. Of a person or horse, to measure a given height on the feet, followed directly by the measurement.
   - Simple: To be a certain height when standing up.
   - _I'd guess our new center must stand six foot ten in his sneakers._
   - _Even as a teenager, my brother stood six foot four and had to duck through doorways._
18. With a to-infinitive, to be in line for a profit or a loss, whichever way events go.
   - Simple: To be likely to gain or lose something, as in stand to win.
   - _Who stands to benefit from the change?_
   - _You stand to gain a great deal._
22. To appear in court as the accused, almost always with 'trial' or 'accused'.
   - Simple: To appear in court to be tried, as in stand trial.
   - _The company must stand trial on all three counts._
   - _The two men will stand trial in March, accused of robbing a bank downtown._
25. To be, or continue to be, in a given condition, with an adjective or participle naming it, as in stand ready, stand open, or stand unchanged.
   - Simple: To be or stay in a certain state, with a word after it like ready, open, or unchanged.
   - _Rescue crews stand ready along the coast as the storm moves closer._
   - _The old mill has stood empty since the factory closed._
26. In card games, especially blackjack, to decline further cards and play on with the hand one holds.
   - Simple: In card games like blackjack, to take no more cards and keep your hand.
   - _If you stand now, you keep your eighteen._
   - _The dealer stands on all seventeens._
29. To pay for something as a treat for others, either with the person and the thing as two objects (stand someone a drink) or the thing alone (stand a round).
   - Simple: To pay for something for someone else, such as a drink or a meal.
   - _Let me stand you a coffee._
   - _After the match, Mark offered to stand everyone a round of drinks._
30. To be consistent or in accord with something, used with 'with'; now mostly literary.
   - Simple: To fit with something or go along with it, an older use.

## Noun

8. A support or frame that keeps something raised or on its base.
   - Simple: A piece of furniture or a frame that holds something up, like a music stand.
   - _She set the sheet music on the stand._
   - _The lamp sits on a wooden stand._
9. A small structure, booth, or raised platform from which goods are sold or a show is given.
   - Simple: A small booth or stall where things are sold or shown, like a hot dog stand.
   - _She runs a flower stand outside the station._
   - _The band played from the stand in the square._
10. A resolute position held against opposition, an opinion acted on and not given up; usually with 'take' or 'make'.
   - Simple: A firm position you take on something, especially against others.
   - _Someone has to take a stand on this._
   - _His stand on the war was unpopular at the time._
16. In sports, the banked rows of seats where the crowd watches, often in the plural.
   - Simple: The rows of seats at a sports ground where people watch, often called the stands.
   - _Thousands of fans filled the stands, waving flags and singing before the kickoff._
   - _The old wooden stand at the stadium was torn down last year._
19. A designated, marked-out place where vehicles or people wait their turn, usually named for what waits there.
   - Simple: A set place where taxis, buses, or people wait to be used or hired.
   - _Cabs lined up at the stand all night._
   - _Wait at the stand and the next cab is yours._
20. The place in a courtroom from which a witness gives evidence, usually with 'take' or 'on'.
   - Simple: The place in a courtroom where a witness sits or stands to answer questions.
   - _The prosecutor called her back to the stand._
   - _He broke down on the stand._
21. A defensive position, or the effort of holding it, where a force refuses to retreat further; usually with 'make' or 'last'.
   - Simple: A place or effort where people stop and fight back instead of retreating.
   - _They made a stand at the river and held it for two days._
   - _Surrounded and low on supplies, the soldiers made a last stand on the hill._
23. The act of standing, or the position one takes up to stand in, mostly in the phrase take one's stand.
   - Simple: The act of standing, or the spot you choose to stand on.
   - _Each morning the old fisherman took his stand on the same flat rock at the end of the pier._
   - _She took her stand at the window._
24. A group of trees or shrubs growing together, in forestry the unit of woodland managed or measured as one.
   - Simple: A group of trees or bushes growing together in one place.
   - _Loggers thinned the stand last winter._
   - _A stand of aspen turns gold all at once._
27. A standstill or halt in motion or thought, as of a person at a loss or a pointing dog that has found game, mostly in the phrase at a stand.
   - Simple: A stop or standstill, when someone or something cannot or does not go on.
28. A run of performances or games at a single venue during a tour or season.
   - Simple: A series of games or shows played in one place before moving on.
   - _After a long road trip they begin a ten-game home stand._
   - _She played a month-long stand at the casino._
31. In cricket, a partnership between two batters, counted in the runs they score together.
   - Simple: In cricket, the time two batters spend batting together, and the runs they add.
   - _The captain and the wicketkeeper put on a stubborn stand of 74 for the seventh wicket._
   - _Two century stands in the second innings turned a likely defeat into a draw._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To be in a particular state, to exist, or to consist in something, where be or consist would be used today.
- (verb) Of tears or sweat, to have gathered and remain visible, as in the eyes or on the brow.
- (verb) To serve as umpire in a match.
- (verb) To compete against someone, usually as a side or team.
- (verb) To sail or head in a given direction or toward a place, said of a vessel or its master.
- (verb) To last or stay intact, undamaged by time or harm.
- (noun) A raised area of seats at the stock exchange where the attendants known as waiters sat.
- (noun) A continuous patch of woodland uniform enough in its mix of tree ages, species and structure, on ground of similar quality, to be treated as one distinct unit.
- (noun) The site where a business such as a hotel or store is placed.
- (noun) An inn or tavern beside a road.
- (noun) A complete set of something, especially the weapons and equipment for one soldier.
- (noun) A person's rank, office, or position in society.
- (noun) A condition of being puzzled or at a loss about what to do.
- (noun) A young tree, typically one spared when those around it are felled, or a tree growing on its own roots rather than grafted onto another stock.
- (noun) Any spot that offers footing for someone on their feet.
- (noun) An advertisement made of many printed sheets pasted up so that together they cover a whole billboard.
- (noun) An upright container such as a cask or barrel.
- (noun) A unit of weight of about 250 to 300 pounds, used for pitch.

## Origin

From Middle English stonden/standen (verb) and stand (noun), from Old English standan ("to stand, occupy a place"), from Proto-Germanic *standaną, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *steh₂-. It is related to Icelandic standa, Gothic standan, and Latin stare, among many others.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/stand (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).