stand up for
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stand up for (oneself)
1. To defend oneself from physical or verbal assault or intimidation. You can't let those bullies push you around anymore. You've got to start standing up for yourself! I hope he starts standing up for himself in the office. The way the boss picks on him is just cruel.
2. To have strength, confidence, and resolve in one's desires, endeavors, or aspirations. I know you're nervous about going into business on your own, but you've got to have confidence and tenacity. If you don't stand up for yourself out there, no one else will.
stand up for (someone or something)
To defend or show one's support for someone or something. We'll never make any progress if we don't have anyone in Congress standing up for our cause. Thank you for standing up for me back there. It just felt like everyone was against me.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
stand up for someone or something
to take the side of someone or something; to defend someone or something. I hope you will stand up for me if the going gets rough. We will have to stand up for our rights someday.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
stand up for
Also, stick up for. Side with, defend, as in Paul always stands up for what he thinks is right, or Ginny has learned to stick up for her family. The first recorded use of the first term is by Shakespeare in King Lear (1:2), when Edmund, Gloucester's bastard son, says: "Now gods, stand up for bastards!" The colloquial variant was first recorded in 1837.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
stand up for
1. To side with; defend.
2. To stand up with.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.