Dictionary

stand up to en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Meanings

1. (transitive) To object to or interfere with the actions of (someone seen as bullying, pushy, or controlling).
   • If anyone stood up to him, I bet he'd back down.
   • He stated flatly that he could not run his airline with the middle seats unoccupied, as it was simply uneconomic. Actually, he probably could, but he stood up to the Government and ministers wilted and simply acquiesced. We needed some strong figure in the [rail] industry to stand up to government, but there has been no one to knock on number 10's door and argue the case. 2020 July 15, Christian Wolmar, “J'Accuse...! A letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson”, in Rail, pages 50–51:
2. (transitive) To withstand, to weather, to survive in spite of.
   • […] it had obtained from its constituents rather antiquated and inefficient equipment, which scarcely stood up to overwork; […]. 1946 July and August, K. Westcott Jones, “Isle of Wight Central Railway—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 244:
   • Using the countless tons of rock from the cliff-face, supplemented by much more from inland, they threw out a huge breakwater, 2,000 ft. long and 80 ft. high, roughly at right angles to the quay, so forming an almost completely sheltered corner. Fifty years later, this massive mole is still standing up to the worst that the Irish Sea can do. 1956 September, F. F. Nicholls, “Neyland, A Forgotten Harbour”, in Railway Magazine, page 632:
   • The paint looks good, but I don't know if it will stand up to years of weather.
   • Overhead electric equipment generally stood up well both to the weight of vertically falling snow and to the effects of snow on contact wires; [...]. 1962 March, “The New Year Freeze-up on British Railways”, in Modern Railways, page 158:

Forms

Relateds

stand up · stand up for

Translations (30)

fi vastustaa (object or interfere) · fr tenir tête (object or interfere) · ru выде́рживать (withstand) · ru выносить (withstand) · cmn 面對 /面对 (object or interfere) · fi kestää (withstand) · de standhalten (withstand) · pl stawiać czoła (object or interfere) · cmn 經得起 /经得起 (withstand) · fr supporter (withstand) · fr tenir (withstand) · gd cum ri (object or interfere) · pl stawić czoła (object or interfere) · nan-hbl 面對 /面对 (object or interfere) · fi nousta vastaan (object or interfere) · sv stå pall för (withstand) · gd cum ri (withstand) · sv tåla (withstand) · it tenere testa (object or interfere) · sv stå emot (withstand) · sv stå emot (object or interfere) · de sich entgegenstellen (object or interfere) · de gewachsen sein (withstand) · hak 面對 /面对 (object or interfere) · yue 經得起 /经得起 (withstand) · tr kafa tutmak (object or interfere) · sv hålla för (withstand) · de Widerstand leisten (object or interfere) · yue 面對 /面对 (object or interfere) · ru противостоя́ть (object or interfere)