stand up - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English standen up, from Old English standan up; equivalent to stand + up. Compare Old Norse standa upp. (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)

stand up (third-person singular simple present stands up, present participle standing up, simple past and past participle stood up)

  1. (intransitive) To rise from a lying or sitting position.
    Stand up, then sit down again.
    • 1909 September 9, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], chapter I, in The Squire’s Daughter, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC:
      He tried to persuade Cicely to stay away from the ball-room for a fourth dance. […] But she said she must go back, and when they joined the crowd again […] she found her mother standing up before the seat on which she had sat all the evening searching anxiously for her with her eyes, and her father by her side.
  2. (transitive) To bring something up and set it into a standing position; to set something up.
    Laura stood the sofa up on end.
  3. (transitive, idiomatic) (stand someone up) To avoid a prearranged meeting, especially a date, with (a person) without prior notification; to jilt or shirk.
    John stood Laura up at the movie theater.
    • 2008 Oct. 20, Jeph Jacques, Questionable Content 1255: Consummate:
      — What?! Why did you come HERE then? You should be at a hospital!
      — A gentleman never stands a lady up.
  4. (intransitive, of a thing) To last or endure over a period of time.
  5. (intransitive, of a person or narrative) To continue to be believable, consistent, or plausible.
    • 2013, Dennis Ford, Things Don't Add Up: A Novel of Kennedy Assassination Research:
      This kind of evidence wouldn't stand up in court.
  6. (intransitive, cricket, of a wicket-keeper) To stand immediately behind the wicket so as to catch balls from a slow or spin bowler, and to attempt to stump the batsman.
  7. (transitive) To launch, propel upwards
    • 2011 September 28, Tom Rostance, “Arsenal 2-1 Olympiakos”, in BBC Sport:
      It was a dreadful goal to concede as Ariel Ibagaza was able to take a short corner and then receive the return ball in space on the left. He stood up a floated cross into the middle where Fuster arrived unmarked to steer a header into the corner.
  8. (US, military, transitive) To formally activate and commission (a unit, formation, etc.).
  9. To make one's voice heard, to speak up.
    • 2008, Lindy Scott, Christians, the Care of Creation, and Global Climate Change, Wipf and Stock Publishers, →ISBN, page 4:
      But my biblical and theological commitments tell me we need to stand up and be counted for the issues of neighbor care and creation care. We need to speak up.
    • 2015, Jeremy Gutsche, Better and Faster: The Proven Path to Unstoppable Ideas, Crown, →ISBN, page 15:
      We're a lion sitting under the tree, watching the hyenas as they stalk our territory. They're coming right up to us. They scratch. They push. They're eating our food! At a certain point, we need to remember that we're a f***ing lion. We need to stand up, and we need to f**ing roar!
    • 2015, Christopher Bollen, Orient, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 160:
      Don't we as citizens deserve the truth? We need to stand up and demand answers.
    • 2017, BusinessNews Publishing, Summary: Time to Get Tough: Review and Analysis of Donald Trump's Book, Primento, →ISBN, page 8:
      We need to stand up and stop this happening right here right now. China needs to know the United States will not tolerate the wholesale thievery of U.S. technology and trade secrets.
  10. (intransitive, formal) To serve in a role during a wedding ceremony.
    Will you stand up for me (as my best man) at the wedding?
    The bridesmaids will stand up over there during the ceremony.

rise from a sitting position

bring something up and set it into a standing position

to avoid a prearranged meeting