- present participle of stand.
standing
Americannoun
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standings
plural
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rank or status, especially with respect to social, economic, or personal position, reputation, etc..
He had little standing in the community.
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good position, reputation, or credit.
He is a merchant of standing in the community.
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length of existence, continuance, residence, membership, experience, etc..
a friend of long standing.
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Sports. standings, a list of teams or contestants arranged according to their past records.
According to the standings, the White Sox are leading the division by three games.
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the act of a person or thing that stands.
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a place where a person or thing stands.
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Law. the right to initiate or participate in a legal action.
having standing as a friend of the court.
adjective
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having an erect or upright position.
a standing lamp.
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performed in or from an erect position.
a standing jump.
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still; not flowing or stagnant, as water; stationary.
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continuing without cessation or change; lasting or permanent.
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continuing in operation, force, use, etc..
a standing rule.
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customary or habitual; generally understood.
We have a standing bridge game every Friday night.
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Printing. kept for use in subsequent printings.
standing type.
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out of use; idle.
a standing engine.
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Nautical. noting any of various objects or assemblages of objects fixed in place or position, unless moved for adjustment or repairs.
standing bowsprit.
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Knots. noting the part of a rope that is in use and terminates in a knot or the like.
noun
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social or financial position, status, or reputation
a man of some standing
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length of existence, experience, etc
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(modifier) used to stand in or on
standing room
adjective
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athletics
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(of the start of a race) begun from a standing position without the use of starting blocks
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(of a jump, leap, etc) performed from a stationary position without a run-up
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(prenominal) permanent, fixed, or lasting
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(prenominal) still or stagnant
a standing pond
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printing (of type) set and stored for future use Compare dead
Synonym Usage
See credit.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of standing
A Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at stand, -ing 1, -ing 2
Explanation
The word standing is used for the reputation or rank of a person or institution. The new teacher's standing will be vastly improved if he throws a pizza party once a month. As a noun, standing is frequently used in sports for comparing one team's scores to all the others': "Our standings aren't great, but my softball team is plucky!" It also means "status" or "rank," like the social standing of aristocrats and nobles in medieval society. In law, if you have standing, you have cause to bring a lawsuit against someone else. When you use standing as an adjective, it means "upright" (like your mom's new standing desk) or "permanent" )like your grandparents' standing invitation to visit them any time).
Vocabulary lists containing standing
Vocabulary of the Summer Olympics
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Civilizations and Peoples of the Fertile Crescent, Lessons 3–4
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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.
See Examples For:
Fireworks went off after 11 minutes to celebrate the number 11 on his 152nd international appearance, and he was given a standing ovation when he was substituted after 62 minutes in Zenica.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
It also improves everyday physical abilities such as walking speed, standing up from a chair and overall mobility.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026
He inherited the largest standing army in Europe but, Mr. Richardson notes, without tax revenues he would need to “beg, borrow and loot, just to keep his soldiers fed and paid.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
The UN agency said healthy life expectancy had recovered from the pandemic more slowly, standing at 62.8 years in 2023 -- 0.4 years below the 2019 level.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
No standing back to let the older man go first, no helping on with a coat, no picking up a dropped tool.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
City, which sits in first place in the standings, has always denied any wrongdoing and is expected to appeal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
The American, who currently leads the standings on the DP World Tour, had been well placed after the first round but was forced to retire through injury while nine-over par for Friday's round.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli stretched his lead in the drivers' standings with victory at the first Spanish Grand Prix held at the Madring.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
Mired in a slump and struggling to stay out of the bottom of the standings, the Galaxy treated Saturday as a must-win in a 2-1 victory over New England.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
It won’t hurt our record in the league or affect our standings as we head into tournament season a few weeks from now.
From "Fast Pitch" by Nic Stone
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.
