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Glite Dictionary
to stand on the shoulders of

to stand on the shoulders of

4 5.7
Make progress by using the ideas and work of earlier people
  • idiom
  • Formal
translation icon : apoyarse en los hombros de
  • We all stand on the shoulders of giants, don't we?
  • stand on the shoulders of giants

And I get to stand on the shoulders of those giants.

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Examples

  • But we have to remember we stand on the shoulders of giants.

    Blog text (34)

  • If I walk tall, it is because I stand on the shoulders of many ancestors. -- Akan proverb, Ghana

    Academic text (2001)

  • As a society, we stand on the shoulders of previous generations for whom the American Dream was a reality.

    Blog text (29)

  • And we do indeed stand on the shoulders of many giants here.

  • And I get to stand on the shoulders of those giants.

    Rob Moore

  • How are we supposed to stand on the shoulders of giants?

    Neighbors (2014)

  • Someone once said that we stand on the shoulders of giants before us.

    Academic text (2010)

  • We know that we stand on the shoulders of giants.

    Blog text (9)

  • You've heard the saying she got to where she is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

  • Today, we stand on the shoulders of the giants who came before us.

Synonyms

to build on
vsto stand on the shoulders of
179 3.4

Use something you already have as a base for new work

is used mainly for progress from earlier people's work rather than any base
to build upon
vsto stand on the shoulders of
26 3.4

Use something as a base for further work

focuses specifically on using earlier people's discoveries as basis
to stand on the shoulders of giants
vsto stand on the shoulders of
  • Formal
2 5.6

Make new progress by using important ideas or work from people who came before

is the same meaning but appears as a fixed set phrase
to stand on someone's shoulders
vsto stand on the shoulders of
  • Formal
5.4

Use other people's ideas or work to move forward

is the same meaning but uses a different personal phrasing

How Much

to stand on the shoulders of
  • Formal
4 5.7
to build on
179 3.4
independently
121 2.9

Surface Forms

stand on the shoulders of infinitive
standing on the shoulders of present participle
stands on the shoulders of third person singular
stood on the shoulders of past
stood on the shoulders of past participle

Morphology

stand + on + the + shoulders + of

The phrase evokes a clear physical image from known words ('stand' + 'on' + 'shoulders') that maps to relying on others' work, so a learner who knows the constituents can often infer the general meaning. However, the mapping from a literal bodily image to the abstract idea of intellectual progress is metaphorical and somewhat conventionalized, so precise nuance requires prior exposure.

Etymology

The phrase stand on the shoulders of comes from the image of someone literally climbing up and standing on another person's shoulders to see farther and reach higher. So, it means 'to make progress by using the work or ideas of people who came before'.