stand on
Britishverb
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(adverb) to continue to navigate a vessel on the same heading
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(preposition) to insist on
to stand on ceremony
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informal to be independent or self-reliant
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Be based on, depend on, as in Our success will stand on their support . [c. 1600]
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Insist on observance of, as in Let's not stand on ceremony . This usage today is nearly always put in a negative context. [Mid-1500s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To stand on the ground instead of scrolling past it.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
“She wasn’t one to stand on the sidelines,” Anthony Liuzzo told me.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
“I spent my whole childhood standing on marks that other people told me to stand on and saying lines that other people told me to say,” he says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
But, just as following his devastating loss to Alcaraz in their epic French Open final last year, Sinner has again responded to adversity to stand on the brink of glory.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
And the strange arctic hares that stand on their back legs to see better are all over the place.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
