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Glite Dictionary
🧍 To rise ✊ To resist 🛡️ To endure 📚 To make upright
to stand up

to stand up

222 3.0
To continue to be correct when people check it
  • phrasal verb
  • /stænd ʌp/
translation icon : resistir
  • She had to stand up to criticism when she presented her new ideas.
  • stand up to scrutiny
  • stand up well
  • stand up to examination

So my stance is if it's legitimate, it will stand up to scrutiny.

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Examples

  • No body of men can stand up to such a test.

  • And we must be ready to stand up for those standards when they are threatened.

    Academic text (2000)

  • All of us must stand up together and say no more.

  • Thank you all for standing up in this heat and being here tonight.

  • You wanted to thank me for standing up for you.

    Bloodsuckers (2005)

  • These are great people that throughout history have stood up to evil.

  • When millions of people stand up and fight back, we will not be denied.

  • Mrs. Bridges: People have to stand up for what is right, even if it is difficult.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • I say there is never a wrong time to stand up to the bullies.

    Broken City (2013)

  • However, God asks us to stand up and not fall down in this despairing world.

    Fiction book (1995)

Synonyms

to hold up
vsto stand up
163 3.7

To remain strong or effective under pressure

is narrower, applying mainly to criticism and tough situations rather than physical use
to bear up
vsto stand up
5 4.4

To stay strong and positive when facing hard times

emphasizes keeping positive and brave rather than remaining effective under stress
to stand fire
vsto stand up
  • Archaic
7.9

To face danger, criticism, or pressure without showing fear

focuses on staying effective under wear or criticism rather than bravely facing danger

Antonyms

to collapse
579 3.9

To fall down suddenly, for example when a person faints or a building breaks

to weaken
305 2.8

To make people and things less strong or effective

How Resilient

to withstand
122 4.2
to hold up
163 3.7
to stand up
222 3.0
to endure
304 3.5
to last
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

stand up infinitive
standing up present participle
stands up third person singular
stood up past
stood up past participle

Morphology

stand + up

There is a clear link between 'stand' (to endure or resist) and the MWE meaning, while the particle 'up' functions as an intensifier that yields a confrontational sense; however the precise sense 'confront/refuse to back down' is not entirely predictable from the parts for an unexposed B1 learner. This pattern is partially compositional but relies on phrasal-verb semantics that vary cross-linguistically, so prior exposure usually helps.

Etymology

When people say an idea does or does not stand up, they picture a building or object being tested by wind or weight and either staying standing or falling down. So stand up here means 'to hold up or last when tested'.