Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Stand \Stand\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Stood}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Standing}.] [OE. standen; AS. standan; akin to OFries.
   stonda, st[=a]n, D. staan, OS. standan, st[=a]n, G. stehen,
   Icel. standa, Dan. staae, Sw. st[*a], Goth. standan, Russ.
   stoiate, L. stare, Gr. ? to cause to stand, ? to stand, Skr.
   sth[=a]. [root]163. Cf. {Assist}, {Constant}, {Contrast},
   {Desist}, {Destine}, {Ecstasy}, {Exist}, {Interstice},
   {Obstacle}, {Obstinate}, {Prest}, n., {Rest} remainder,
   {Soltice}, {Stable}, a. & n., {State}, n., {Statute},
   {Stead}, {Steed}, {Stool}, {Stud} of horses, {Substance},
   {System}.]
   1. To be at rest in an erect position; to be fixed in an
      upright or firm position; as:
      (a) To be supported on the feet, in an erect or nearly
          erect position; -- opposed to {lie}, {sit}, {kneel},
          etc. ``I pray you all, stand up!'' --Shak.
      (b) To continue upright in a certain locality, as a tree
          fixed by the roots, or a building resting on its
          foundation.

                It stands as it were to the ground yglued.
                                                  --Chaucer.

                The ruined wall Stands when its wind worn
                battlements are gone.             --Byron.

   2. To occupy or hold a place; to have a situation; to be
      situated or located; as, Paris stands on the Seine.

            Wite ye not where there stands a little town?
                                                  --Chaucer.

   3. To cease from progress; not to proceed; to stop; to pause;
      to halt; to remain stationary.

            I charge thee, stand, And tell thy name. --Dryden.

            The star, which they saw in the east, went before
            them, till it came and stood over where the young
            child was.                            --Matt. ii. 9.

   4. To remain without ruin or injury; to hold good against
      tendencies to impair or injure; to be permanent; to
      endure; to last; hence, to find endurance, strength, or
      resources.

            My mind on its own center stands unmoved. --Dryden.

   5. To maintain one's ground; to be acquitted; not to fail or
      yield; to be safe.

            Readers by whose judgment I would stand or fall.
                                                  --Spectator.

   6. To maintain an invincible or permanent attitude; to be
      fixed, steady, or firm; to take a position in resistance
      or opposition. ``The standing pattern of their
      imitation.'' --South.

            The king granted the Jews . . . to gather themselves
            together, and to stand for their life. --Esther
                                                  viii. 11.

   7. To adhere to fixed principles; to maintain moral
      rectitude; to keep from falling into error or vice.

            We must labor so as to stand with godliness,
            according to his appointment.         --Latimer.

   8. To have or maintain a position, order, or rank; to be in a
      particular relation; as, Christian charity, or love,
      stands first in the rank of gifts.

   9. To be in some particular state; to have essence or being;
      to be; to consist. ``Sacrifices . . . which stood only in
      meats and drinks.'' --Heb. ix. 10.

            Accomplish what your signs foreshow; I stand
            resigned, and am prepared to go.      --Dryden.

            Thou seest how it stands with me, and that I may not
            tarry.                                --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.

   10. To be consistent; to agree; to accord.

             Doubt me not; by heaven, I will do nothing But what
             may stand with honor.                --Massinger.

   11. (Naut.) To hold a course at sea; as, to stand from the
       shore; to stand for the harbor.

             From the same parts of heaven his navy stands.
                                                  --Dryden.

   12. To offer one's self, or to be offered, as a candidate.

             He stood to be elected one of the proctors of the
             university.                          --Walton.

   13. To stagnate; not to flow; to be motionless.

             Or the black water of Pomptina stands. --Dryden.

   14. To measure when erect on the feet.

             Six feet two, as I think, he stands. --Tennyson.

   15. (Law)
       (a) To be or remain as it is; to continue in force; to
           have efficacy or validity; to abide. --Bouvier.
       (b) To appear in court. --Burrill.

   {Stand by} (Naut.), a preparatory order, equivalent to {Be
      ready}.

   {To stand against}, to opposite; to resist.

   {To stand by}.
       (a) To be near; to be a spectator; to be present.
       (b) To be aside; to be aside with disregard. ``In the
           interim [we] let the commands stand by neglected.''
           --Dr. H. More.
       (c) To maintain; to defend; to support; not to desert;
           as, to stand by one's principles or party.
       (d) To rest on for support; to be supported by.
           --Whitgift.

   {To stand corrected}, to be set right, as after an error in a
      statement of fact. --Wycherley.

   {To stand fast}, to be fixed; to be unshaken or immovable.

   {To stand firmly on}, to be satisfied or convinced of.
      ``Though Page be a secure fool, and stands so firmly on
      his wife's frailty.'' --Shak.

   {To stand for}.
       (a) To side with; to espouse the cause of; to support; to
           maintain, or to profess or attempt to maintain; to
           defend. ``I stand wholly for you.'' --Shak.
       (b) To be in the place of; to be the substitute or to
           represent; as, a cipher at the left hand of a figure
           stands for nothing. ``I will not trouble myself,
           whether these names stand for the same thing, or
           really include one another.'' --Locke.

   {To stand in}, to cost. ``The same standeth them in much less
      cost.'' --Robynson (More's Utopia).

            The Punic wars could not have stood the human race
            in less than three millions of the species. --Burke.

   {To stand in hand}, to conduce to one's interest; to be
      serviceable or advantageous.

   {To stand off}.
       (a) To keep at a distance.
       (b) Not to comply.
       (c) To keep at a distance in friendship, social
           intercourse, or acquaintance.
       (d) To appear prominent; to have relief. ``Picture is
           best when it standeth off, as if it were carved.''
           --Sir H. Wotton.

   {To stand off and on} (Naut.), to remain near a coast by
      sailing toward land and then from it.

   {To stand on} (Naut.), to continue on the same tack or
      course.

   {To stand out}.
       (a) To project; to be prominent. ``Their eyes stand out
           with fatness.'' --Psalm lxxiii. 7.
       (b) To persist in opposition or resistance; not to yield
           or comply; not to give way or recede.

                 His spirit is come in, That so stood out
                 against the holy church.         --Shak.

   {To stand to}.
       (a) To ply; to urge; to persevere in using. ``Stand to
           your tackles, mates, and stretch your oars.''
           --Dryden.
       (b) To remain fixed in a purpose or opinion. ``I will
           stand to it, that this is his sense.'' --Bp.
           Stillingfleet.
       (c) To abide by; to adhere to; as to a contrast,
           assertion, promise, etc.; as, to stand to an award;
           to stand to one's word.
       (d) Not to yield; not to fly; to maintain, as one's
           ground. ``Their lives and fortunes were put in
           safety, whether they stood to it or ran away.''
           --Bacon.
       (e) To be consistent with; to agree with; as, it stands
           to reason that he could not have done so.
       (f) To support; to uphold. ``Stand to me in this cause.''
           --Shak.

   {To stand together}, to be consistent; to agree.

   {To stand to sea} (Naut.), to direct the course from land.

   {To stand under}, to undergo; to withstand. --Shak.

   {To stand up}.
       (a) To rise from sitting; to be on the feet.
       (b) To arise in order to speak or act. ``Against whom,
           when the accusers stood up, they brought none
           accusation of such things as I supposed.'' --Acts
           xxv. 18.
       (c) To rise and stand on end, as the hair.
       (d) To put one's self in opposition; to contend. ``Once
           we stood up about the corn.'' --Shak.

   {To stand up for}, to defend; to justify; to support, or
      attempt to support; as, to stand up for the
      administration.

   {To stand upon}.
       (a) To concern; to interest.
       (b) To value; to esteem. ``We highly esteem and stand
           much upon our birth.'' --Ray.
       (c) To insist on; to attach much importance to; as, to
           stand upon security; to stand upon ceremony.
       (d) To attack; to assault. [A Hebraism] ``So I stood upon
           him, and slew him.'' --2 Sam. i. 10.

   {To stand with}, to be consistent with. ``It stands with
      reason that they should be rewarded liberally.'' --Sir J.
      Davies.

Source : WordNet®

stand by
     v 1: not act or do anything; "He just stood by when the police
          beat up the demonstrators"
     2: be available or ready for a certain function or service
        [syn: {stick around}, {stick about}]
     3: be loyal to; "She stood by her husband in times of trouble";
        "The friends stuck together through the war" [syn: {stick
        by}, {stick}, {adhere}]