to stand by one's man
5
6.8
- idiom
:
apoyar a su hombre
- As much as she's listening to Tyler—and I think that she wholeheartedly trusts Tyler—the bottom line is that she's going to be around him and stand by her man.
- wife vowed to stand by her man
Examples
-
I mean, if Hayley's going to be standing by her man, Caroline is going to be standing even closer.
Blog text (34) -
Stand by your man!
-
Way to stand by your man, Cash.
-
As an attorney and wife, she is clearly standing by her man.
-
A woman stands by her man.
Blog text (19) -
I'm just asking you to stand by your man like I'm standing next to you.
-
No one will ever say I didn't stand by my man, Charlie.
-
Stand by your man, Lauren.
-
"You've got to stand by your man!" Ramon declared.
Fiction book (1996) -
Despite the challenges they faced, she vowed to stand by her man through thick and thin.
Synonyms
187
3.2
Support someone through difficult times
84
2.9
Support a person, group, or cause during hard times
47
3.6
To stay with and support someone in hard times
Antonyms
How Loyal
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb + particle 'stand by' transparently conveys holding/supporting someone, and 'one's man' is a straightforward possessive phrase meaning one's male partner, so the combined meaning 'support one's husband/partner' is directly inferable from the parts. This compositional pattern (stand by someone = support) is common in English and has clear parallels in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would very likely understand the MWE.
Etymology
Stand by one's man comes from the simple image of someone who literally stands by their man when he is in trouble, staying at his side. So it means 'to support or remain loyal to one's husband or partner', especially in hard times.