stood
Americanverb
verb
Usage
What is a basic definition of stood? Stood is the past tense and past participle of the verb stand. Stood can mean to be positioned upright (in the past), to not move or budge (in the past), or to believe in something (in the past). Stood, like stand, has many other senses as a verb. As the past tense of stand, stood is used in many of the same idioms. If someone stood somewhere, it means they were in an upright position at that location and not sitting or lying down. If an object stood somewhere, it was located there and hadn’t yet collapsed, fell down, or been moved somewhere else.
- Real-life examples: The Colossus of Rhodes stood at a Greek harbor before collapsing during an earthquake. Archaeologists may find evidence of a building that once stood somewhere in the past but has since been destroyed.
- Used in a sentence: I stood by the door and waited for the mailman.
- Used in a sentence: Larry slowly stood up out of his chair to greet his son.
- Used in a sentence: I swear that the King Kong statue stood over 100 feet tall!
- Used in a sentence: I stood firm against the volley of snowballs.
- Used in a sentence: I try to live up to my mother’s legacy and follow the values she stood for.
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.
Around her stood people in T-shirts with the same illustration featured on the church’s bulletin that week: a phoenix representing Boyle Heights rising from the flames of a hellish warehouse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
Two tall, armed police officers, wearing balaclavas, stood either side of a handcuffed Ahmadzai as they led him, in what felt like quite a performative manner, past the reporters.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
When the allegations first emerged, Cambridge stood by Arday, saying he was the victim of a racially motivated smear.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Curious locals hoping to catch a glimpse of the spectacle stood on the street in the humid evening air.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
I stood thankfully on the sidewalk until my knees stopped knocking.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
