stand for
Britishverb
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to represent or mean
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to be or become a candidate for
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to support or recommend
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informal to tolerate or bear
he won't stand for any disobedience
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Represent, symbolize, as in The stars and stripes stands for our country . [Early 1600s]
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Advocate, support, uphold, as in The National Writers Union stands for freedom of the press . [c. 1300] Also see stand up for .
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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 .
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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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the troika of major figures in the Russian Revolution, Trotsky stood for ideas and Stalin represented power; their predecessor, Vladimir Lenin, had fused the two values as the frowning avatar of communist leadership.
To create a responsive and realistic avatar for the chatbot, she stood for hours speaking nonstop.
From Barron's
Stepping back, he stood for several seconds looking at it; then he grinned and said, “Just to be sure that it won’t hurt a monkey’s paw, I think it should be tested out, don’t you?”
From Literature
He says he was drawn to reinventing Slazenger because of its "interesting history", but that his generation didn't know what it stood for.
From BBC
California Adventure, at its most idealized, stood for more than an assortment of film properties.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
