stand

present singular third person stands · participle present standing · past stood · participle past stood · obsolete participle past standen · first person past singular stood · archaic present second person singular standest · past second person singular stood · archaic past second person singular stoodst · archaic past second person singular stoodest · present singular third person stands · archaic present singular third person standeth · past singular third person stood · past plural stood · past subjunctive stood · participle present standing

1. To position or be positioned physically:
   1. copulativeintransitiveTo support oneself on the feet in an erect position.

      Here I stand, wondering what to do next.

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      I can't reach the ceiling. Get me a chair to stand on.

      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.

      1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

      At one time a "standard test" for carriage riding was to stand a pencil on end on the compartment floor, or to measure how long it was possible to stand on one leg without touching the corridor walls; […]

      1961 February, R. K. Evans, “The role of research on British Railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 93

      It’s recited in schools across the US every day by students standing stiffly with their hands over their hearts. […] The pledge made headlines this week after a sixth-grade student in Florida told a substitute teacher he would not stand for the pledge because he believed the American flag symbolized discrimination against blacks.

      2019 February 19, Doug Criss, “Here’s why students don’t have to recite the Pledge of Allegiance”, in CNN, archived from the original on 14 Jul 2020

   2. intransitiveTo rise to one’s feet; to stand up.

      Stand up, walk to the refrigerator, and get your own snack.

   3. copulativeintransitiveTo remain motionless.

      Do not leave your car standing in the road.

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      The star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

      1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 2:9

      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.

      1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

      Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.

      1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter III (Accessory After the Fact), page 382, column 1

   4. intransitiveTo be placed in an upright or vertical orientation.

      He seized the gun which always stood in a corner of his bedroom […]

      1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC

      1 more example

      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. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect.

      1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC

   5. transitiveTo place in an upright or standing position.

      He stood the broom in a corner and took a break.

      1 more example

      At one time a "standard test" for carriage riding was to stand a pencil on end on the compartment floor, or to measure how long it was possible to stand on one leg without touching the corridor walls; [...].

      1961 February, R. K. Evans, “The role of research on British Railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 93

   6. intransitiveTo occupy or hold a place; to be set, placed, fixed, located, or situated.

      Paris stands on the Seine.

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      The chapel ſtands on the South ſide of the ſquare, near the governor’s houſe.

      1774, Edward Long, The History of Jamaica. Or, General Survey of the Antient and Modern State of that Island, volume 2, book 2, chapter 7, 6

      Las Vegas police say the number of people injured now stands at 515.

      2017 October 2, "Las Vegas shooting: At least 58 dead at Mandalay Bay Hotel", in bbc.com, BBC

   7. intransitiveTo measure when erect on the feet.

      She must stand five feet five—possibly six. At that, with the tread she has, she will take a 4½ to 5.

      1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries

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      His face, as I grant, in spite of spite / Has a broad-blown comeliness, red and white, / And six feet two, as I think, he stands; […]

      1855, Alfred Tennyson, “Maud”, in Maud, and Other Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, part XIII, stanza 1, page 44

   8. intransitiveusuallysweatTo be present, to have welled up.

      many an orphan’s water-standing eye

      c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene vi]

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      now my heart beginneth to melt within me being wounded (with that the tears stood in his eyes) to see the faces of some here present, whom J most earnestly love, and now must depart from with shame […]

      1651, Francis Bacon, “Sir Jervas his Confession”, in A True and Historical Relation of the Poysoning of Sir Thomas Overbury, London: John Benson & John Playford, page 71

      [He] pull’d me up again, and then giving me tvvo or three Kiſſes again, thank’d me for my kind yielding to him; and vvas ſo overcome with the Satisfaction and Joy of it, that I savv Tears ſtand in his Eyes.

      1722 (indicated as 1721), [Daniel Defoe], The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, &c. […], London: […] W[illiam Rufus] Chetwood, […]; and T. Edling, […], published 1722, →OCLC, page 222

      He takes me half-price to the play, to an extent which I sometimes fear is beyond his means; and I see the tears a standing in his eyes during the whole performance […]

      1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, chapter 32, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC, page 380

      How he escaped a broken neck in that dreadful place no human being will ever ken. The sweat, he has told me, stood in cold drops upon his forehead […]

      1902 January, John Buchan, “The Outgoing of the Tide”, in The Watcher by the Threshold, and Other Tales, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, published 1902, →OCLC, page 258

2. To position or be positioned mentally:
   1. intransitivewith infinitivewith toTo be positioned to gain or lose.

      He stands to get a good price for the house.

   2. transitiveTo tolerate.

      I can’t stand him.

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      I can’t stand when people don’t read the instructions.

      [I]f 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.

      1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

   3. copulativeintransitiveTo maintain one's ground; to be acquitted; not to fail or yield; to be safe.

      [R]eaders by whose judgment I would stand or fall […]

      1712 February 12 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “FRIDAY, February 2, 1711–1712”, in The Spectator, number 291; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC

   4. copulativeintransitiveTo maintain an invincible or permanent attitude; to be fixed, steady, or firm; to take a position in resistance or opposition.

      the standing pattern of their imitation

      1660 August 7 (Gregorian calendar), Robert South, “(please specify the sermon number)[Sermon preached at St. Mary’s Church in Oxon]”, in Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions. […], new edition, volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: […] Thomas Tegg, […], published 1843, →OCLC

      2 more examples

      The king granted the Jews[…]to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life.

      1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Esther 8:11

      "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

      2019 February 19, Doug Criss, “Here’s why students don’t have to recite the Pledge of Allegiance”, in CNN, archived from the original on 14 Jul 2020

   5. copulativeintransitiveobsoleteTo be in some particular state; to have essence or being; to be; to consist.

      sacrifices[…]which stood only in meats and drinks

      1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Hebrews 9:10

      2 more examples

      Accomplish what your signs foreshow; / I stand resigned, and am prepared to go.

      1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

      Thou seest how it stands with me[…], and that I may not tarry.

      1826, [Walter Scott], Woodstock; Or, The Cavalier. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC

3. To position or be positioned socially:
   1. intransitiveball gamesTo act as an umpire.
   2. transitiveTo undergo; withstand; hold up.

      The works of Shakespeare have stood the test of time.

      3 more examples

      Love stood the siege.

      1700, [John] Dryden, “Theodore and Honoria, from Boccace”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

      Bid him disband his legions,[…]/ And stand the judgment of a Roman senate.

      1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, (please specify the page)

      That not for Fame, but Virtue's better end, / He ſtood the furious Foe, the timid Friend, […]

      1735 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: […] J[ohn] Wright for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 16, lines 324–325

   3. UKintransitiveTo be a candidate (in an election).

      He is standing for election to the local council.

      1 more example

      He stood to be elected one of the proctors of the university.

      1678, Izaak Walton, The Life of Robert Sanderson

   4. intransitiveTo remain valid.

      What I said yesterday still stands.

   5. transitiveTo oppose, usually as a team, in competition.

      "Kim, Jack, and I will stand you guys," Jimmie Burdette said. / "We'll smear you!" laughed Ron.

      1957, Matt Christopher, chapter 7, in Basketball Sparkplug

      2 more examples

      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."

      c. 1973, R. J. Childerhose, Hockey Fever in Goganne Falls, page 95

      "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.

      1978, Louis Sachar, chapter 21, in Sideways Stories from Wayside School, page 86

   6. transitiveTo cover the expense of; to pay for.

      to stand a treat

      3 more examples

      to stand a round of drinks

      to stand bail (security in respect of an arrested person)

      I will either stand a glass of grog, or thou shalt pay the like for me, my lad

      1854, Arthur Pendennis [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], →OCLC

   7. intransitiveTo 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.

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      President Obama gave his first extended television interview since the protests in Libya and Egypt to Telemundo on Wednesday night, and he took the opportunity to explain the U.S.'s role in the developing world while clarifying where the country stands with Egypt right now.

      2022 September 13, Connor Simpson, “Obama is neutral on Egypt right now”, in Jeffrey Goldberg, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 Aug 2020

   8. intransitiveTo be consistent; to agree; to accord.

      Doubt me not, by Heauen, I vvill doe nothing / But vvhat may ſtand vvith honour: […]

      c. 1619 (date written), P[hilip] M[assinger], N[athan] F[ield], The Fatall Dowry: A Tragedy. […], London: […] Iohn Norton, for Francis Constable, […], published 1632, →OCLC, Act IV, signature I2, verso

   9. intransitiveTo appear in court.
4. intransitivenauticalOf a ship or its captain, to steer, sail (in a specified direction, for a specified destination etc.).

   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[…].

   1630, John Smith, True Travels, Kupperman, published 1988, page 40

5. copulativeintransitiveTo remain without ruin or injury.

   My mind on its own centre stands unmov'd.

   1692, John Dryden, Cleomenes, the Spartan Hero, a Tragedy

   1 more example

   The ruin'd wall / Stands when its wind-worn battlements are gone.

   1816, Lord Byron, “Canto III”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Canto the Third, London: […] [F]or John Murray, […], →OCLC, stanza XXXII

6. card gamesTo stop asking for more cards; to keep one's hand as it has been dealt so far.

plural stands

1. The act of standing.

   I took my stand upon an eminence […] to look into their several ladings.

   October 2, 1712, Joseph Addison, The Spectator No. 499

2. A defensive position or effort.

   The Commander says we will make our stand here.

3. A resolute, unwavering position; firm opinion; action for a purpose in the face of opposition.

   They took a firm stand against copyright infringement.

   1 more example

   There are also a growing number of lesbians in prison who are out about being lesbian and that stand in and of itself is much stronger than being out on the outside. These women are in much greater danger.

   1991 December 1, Rebecca Levine, Judy Greenspan, “A Great Need”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 20, page 9

4. A period of performance in a given location or venue.

   They have a four-game stand at home against the Yankees.

   1 more example

   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

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   There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.

   1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter II, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0091

   Whilst I nipped out to get the booze Eddie would ease the large bread stand at the far end of the shop out from the counter so as to leave a gap behind, big enouh to take the basket. I would streak into the shop like a whippet and be behind the bread stand before you could blink.

   2009, B.O.B Wild, The Dogs of War, page 69

6. The platform on which a witness testifies in court; the witness stand or witness box.

   She took the stand and quietly answered questions.

   1 more example

   Shortly after Ellison started at Alameda around fall 2018 as a trader, she learned that the company was financially far sicker than she had known, she said on the stand.

   2023 October 11, Victoria Bekiempis, “Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend to take stand again after day of dramatic testimony”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

7. historicalAn area of raised seating for waiters at the stock exchange.

   When a member has failed to comply with his bargains the fact is announced from one of the stands, […]

   1923, Julius E. Day, The Stockbroker's Office: Organisation, Management and Accounts, page 99

   1 more example

   Just as that clock is striking now, the two waiters appear on the stands and take off their hats, as if to a corpse.

   1934, Frances Cosgrove, Scenes for Student Actors: Dramatic Selections from New Plays, page 8

8. A particular grove or other group of trees or shrubs.

   This stand of pines is older than the one next to it.

   1 more example

   Pernambuco is a coastal wood which grows in maintained stands in Brazil.

   2000, James Beament, The Violin Explained: Components, Mechanism, and Sound, page 159

9. businessA 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.
10. A standstill, a motionless state, as of someone confused, or a hunting dog who has found game.

    Antonia's patience now was at a stand— "Come, come, 't is no time now for fooling there," She whispered[…]

    1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, I.168

    1 more example

    One 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.

    1625, Francis Bacon, “Of Truth”, in Essays

11. A small building, booth, or stage, as in a bandstand or hamburger stand.
12. A designated spot where someone or something may stand or wait.

    a taxi stand

    1. AustraliaThe place a shearer takes in a shearing shed.

       At the respective ‘stands’ assigned to them stood the rival foes, each silently adjusting his shearing paraphernalia.

       1911, ‘Steel Rudd’, The Book of Dan, Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, published 1970, page 87

13. USdatedThe situation of a shop, store, hotel, etc.

    a good, bad, or convenient stand for business

14. USabbreviationellipsishistoricalEllipsis of tavern stand (“a roadside inn”).
15. hobbiesGrandstand. (often in the plural)

    Are your seats in the stands or on the floor?

    1 more example

    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.

    2011 November 11, Rory Houston, “Estonia 0-4 Republic of Ireland”, in RTE Sport

16. ball gamesA partnership.

    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.

    2012 May 21, Tom Fordyce, “England v West Indies: Hosts cruise home in Lord's Test”, in BBC Sport

17. collectiveplural often standgovernmentA single set of arms (weaponry).

    The police and troops captured eleven thousand stand of arms, including muskets and pistols, together with several thousand bludgeons and other weapons.

    1927, Herbert Asbury, The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld, Paragon House, published 1990, →ISBN, page 170

18. obsoleteRank; post; station; standing.

    Father, since your fortune did attain / So high a stand, I mean not to descend.

    1595, Samuel Daniel, “(please specify the folio number)”, in The First Fowre Bookes of the Ciuile Wars between the Two Houses of Lancaster and Yorke, London: […] P[eter] Short for Simon Waterson, →OCLC

19. datedA state of perplexity or embarrassment.

    to be at a stand what to do

20. 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.
21. A location or position where one may stand.

    Come, I have found you out a stand most fit, / Where you may have such vantage on the duke, / He shall not pass you.

    c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)

22. advertisingAn advertisement filling an entire billboard, comprising many sheets of paper.

    The cost of the printing alone will average $2 a 'stand.' The sheets are about 28x42 inches and are in four colors, which means they must go through the process four times.

    1900, Marketing Communications, volume 30, page 12

    1 more example

    Crew of 14 billers and a four-man brigade will be 10 days ahead and will use all special paper including new jungle and animal designs being prepared by Enquirer Printing Company. New this season will be a 20-sheet poster depicting 21 K-M elephants parading to local Chevrolet agencies. Deal calls for use of the 20-sheet on poster panels where the auto agency has space allotment. Smaller versions of the same art also will be used. Circulation of Kelly-Miller heralds, which last season averaged between 5,000 and 6,000 copies per stand, will be in for one of the greatest boosts this year.

    1951 February 24, Billboard, page 52

23. collectiveA group of flamingos.

    An anteater at a Swedish zoo massacred a stand of flamingos

    2010, Harper's, volumes 320-324, numbers 1916-1945, Harper's Magazine Foundation

    2 more examples

    Woodland Park’s stand of flamingos are all past breeding age

    2024 February 12, Andy Corbley, “Quick-Thinking Flight Attendant and Passengers Save 6 Flamingo Eggs Aboard Flight”, in Good News Network

    But he loves taking pictures of all critters, he said, and noticed a stand of flamingos wading in a salt pond.

    2014 March 12, Matt Davenport, “Carmel man snaps photo of rare black flamingo”, in Monterey Herald, archived from the original on 01 Aug 2026

plural stands

1. ScotlandUSdatedA container which stands upright, such as a barrel or cask.

   […]one gialfatte, 3 stannes 3s.,[…]

   1582, Rural Economy in Yorkshire in 1641, Being the Farming and Account Books of Henry Best, of Elmswell, in the East Riding of the County of York (The Publications of the Surtees Society; volume XXXIII), Durham: […] for the Society by George Andrews, […]. London: Whittaker & Co., […]; T. & W. Boone, […]. Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, published 1857, page 172

   5 more examples

   Item, for a ſtande of small ale - ii s.

   1559, The Progresses and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth. Among Which are Interspersed, Other Solemnities, Public Expenditures, and Remarkable Events, During the Reign of that Illustrious Princess. […], volume I, […] the Editor [John Nichols], […], published 1788, page 45

   Therefore at length sir Iefferie bethought him of a feat whereby he might both visit the alestond, and also keepe his othe.

   1588, Martin Mar-prelate, An Epistle to the Terrible Priests of the Convocation House, London: John Petheram, published 1842, page 54

   Memp. Ile teach my wag-halter to know grapes from barley. Pris. And I mine to discerne a spigot from a faucet. Spe. And I mine, to iudge the difference between a blacke boule and a siluer goblet. Stel. And mine shall learne the oddes betweene a stand and a hogs-head; yet I cannot choose but laugh to see how my wag aunswered mee, when I stroke him for drinking sacke.

   1594, John Lyly, “Mother Bombie”, in The Complete Works of John Lyly, published 1902, page 193

   As for the Tapſter, he fled into the Cellar, rapping out fiue or ſixe plaine Country oathes, that hée would drowne himſelfe in a moſt villanous Stand of Ale, if the ſicke Londoner ſtoode at the doore any longer.

   1603, Thomas Dekker, “The VVonderfull Yeare”, in The Non-Dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker, volume I, published 1884, pages 123–124

   I have the rareſt Stand of Ale to drink out in the Afternoon, with three or four honeſt Country-fellows;

   1672, Thomas Shadwell, “Epsom-Wells”, in The Works of Thomas Shadwell, volume the second, London: […] James Knapton, […]; and Jacob Tonson, […], published 1720, page 196

2. obsoleteA weight of from two hundred and fifty to three hundred pounds, used in weighing pitch.