stand for

verb

1. to represent or mean

2. to be or become a candidate for

3. to support or recommend

4. informal,  to tolerate or bear

   he won't stand for any disobedience

Idioms and Phrases

Represent, symbolize, as in The stars and stripes stands for our country . [Early 1600s]

Advocate, support, uphold, as in The National Writers Union stands for freedom of the press . [c. 1300] Also see stand up for .

Put up with, tolerate. This usage is generally in a negative context, as in Mother will not stand for rude behavior . [Late 1800s] Also see hold still for .

stand for something . Have some value or importance, as in She realized that appearances do stand for something . This usage dates from the mid-1800s but was preceded by stand for nothing , meaning “be worthless,” dating from the late 1300s. Also see stand in for .

Example Sentences

Biya was already testing the limits of popular tolerance with his decision to stand for a seventh successive term in 2018.

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“He traveled a lot, worked in aviation and wrote poetry. He always stood for honesty and justice and carried love in his heart.”

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The United States still stands for something—freedom, refuge, hope.

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Alex at first appears as a figure of “woke” culture there to defy the older generation Roberts’ Alma comes to stand for.

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Even so, Ms. Gaul argues, it stands for “maternal lines of knowledge” that persist today despite “the innovations and ruptures of modernization,” continuing to shape what will “taste Egyptian” to real Egyptians.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• exemplify 
• imply 
• represent 
• suggest 
• symbolize