Dictionary

outstand en · VERB

Etymology

From Middle English outstanden, utstanden, equivalent to out- + stand. Cognate with Saterland Frisian uutstounde (“to bear, tolerate”), Dutch uitstaan (“to abide, suffer, dree”), German ausstehen (“to stand, endure, abide”), Swedish utstå (“to suffer, endure, pass through”).

Meanings

1. (archaic, transitive) To resist effectually; withstand; sustain without yielding.
   • Like Solomon's fool, he outstands all reproof. 1658, John Spencer, Thomas Fuller, “CCCXXVI.—A sinful man is a senseless man.”, in ΚΑΙΝΑ ΚΑΙ ΠΑΛΑΙΑ[:] Things New and Old; or A Storehouse of Similes, Sentences, Allegories, Apophthegms, Apologues, Adages, Divine, Moral, Political, &c., […] , page 84:
   • [T]he Elephas primigenius [woolly mammoth] and some of its associates which were able to outstand the inclemency of that severe period, wandered back over their ancient territory, […] 1861 January 14, Samuel Joseph Mackie, “The Evidences of the Geological Age and Human Manufacture of the Fossil Flint Implements”, in Samuel Joseph Mackie, editor, The Geologist:
2. (transitive) To surpass in standing; stand or remain beyond; outstay.
   • I have outstood my time, which is material / To the tender of our present. 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene vi]:
   • This difficulty […] does not arise from, nor is it peculiar to, revealed religion. It is a difficulty which outstands all systems; […] 1841 December 14, J. M. H., “Doctrinal Views Often Determined by Moral Condition”, in The Christian Observer, London: J. Hatchard and Son:
3. (intransitive) To project outward from the main body; stand out prominently; be prominent.
   • A lever connected to the cam outstands from the throat block, […] 1971 August 17, Charles L. Welton, “Releasable Mooring Rope”, in Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, volume 889, number 3:
   • The frog simply outstands from its surroundings due to its dark purplish vibrant color. 2015, Adrian Sanqui, “Purple Fluorescent Frog”, in Drawing Frogs[:] How to Draw Frogs for the Beginner (Learn to Draw), volume 2, →ISBN, page 20:
4. (archaic, intransitive) To stand out to sea.
5. (archaic, intransitive) To remain over; remain untouched, unimpaired, unsettled, uncollected, unpaid, or otherwise undetermined.
   • The Judge gave a judgment against the whole boat's crew, I being one of the men, for $30,000. Of course, we did not feel like paying it. I did not; it was none of my fault, but I happened to belong to the same boat, and it outstands there now. 1883, Thomas J. Knight, “Testimony of Thomas J. Knight”, in Appendix to the Journals of the Senate and Assembly of the Twenty-Fifth Session of the Legislature of the State of California, volume III, page 77:

Forms

Deriveds

outstanding term · outstander · outstanding