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.
These records stood in stark contrast to conditions at the opposite pole, where Arctic sea ice was undergoing a steep decline.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
The veteran infielder stood by his locker at Dodger Stadium, his eyes red and watery, his uniform covered in dirt, knowing that when he pulled them off, it would be for the last time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
He became “one of the most recognizable writers to ever live,” but what most viewers didn’t know was that he stood only 5 feet 5 inches tall.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
They instead stood out against the other evangelicals who made pleas for a sense of decorum and human dignity.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026
In front of me stood Karel, tall black hat in his hands, his eyes searching my face as though he were not quite sure.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
