to stick by
47
3.6
- phrasal verb
- /stɪk baɪ/
- Informal
:
apoyar a
- I'm proud that you stuck by your beliefs and refused to do the appearance.
- stick by a friend
- stick by your family
- stick by someone's side
But but but, but very few people stuck by me.
- But but but, but very few people stuck by me.
- How did your wife handle that and why did she stick by you?
- And I just always stuck by that.
- And it's they use the data to justify those theories and stick by them.
- And they just, they stuck by me and I was so I'm, I'm so grateful for that.
- I learned that if someone, if anything, if, if someone loves you enough, they'll stick by you through anything.
- But I think as strange as this may sound, I've said this before and I stick to, I stick by what I say.
- Now that you know how you think about loyalty, we are taught that loyalty means sticking by someone no matter what, right?
- Like it's like faculty have A and people have a fixed set of ideas and they stick by them.
- But so he, yeah, he stuck by my side through all that.
Examples
-
Well, do you know what they call someone who sticks by their word no matter what?
-
Now, I think the last few weeks have demonstrated what I've been saying all year, that this government will be tested by events, but we will stick by our course.
-
I stuck by you and I stuck by my family.
-
You said that you were gonna stick by me no matter what happened.
-
...I need you to do me a favor and stick by my side.
-
But if I could talk to her, make her see that I'm gonna stick by her through this...
-
We are taught that loyalty means sticking by someone no matter what, right?
-
And they just, they stuck by me and I was so I'm, I'm so grateful for that.
-
Don't get panicky, just stick by me.
-
I will always stick by my friends during tough times.
Synonyms
341
3.6
Keep doing or supporting something even when it is difficult
187
3.2
Support someone through difficult times
84
2.9
Support a person, group, or cause during hard times
7
7.5
To stay very close to someone or something, often for support
5
6.8
Support and stay loyal to your husband or partner during hard times
Stay loyal to people or groups that supported you
Antonyms
How Loyal
- Informal
47
3.6
932
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
stick + by
The verb 'stick' already carries the sense of staying with or persisting in support, and 'by' conveys proximity/alongside; combined they straightforwardly yield 'remain at someone's side/support'. This verb+preposition composition is common in English (cf. 'stand by', 'stick with') and is cross-linguistically familiar, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can reliably infer the meaning.
Etymology
Stick by comes from the image of someone being stuck to another person's side, with stick meaning to stay attached and by meaning near. So it means 'to continue to support or be loyal'.