| / English Dictionary |
STAND BY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Be available or ready for a certain function or service
Synonyms:
stand by; stick about; stick around
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Hypernyms (to "stand by" is one way to...):
wait (stay in one place and anticipate or expect something)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Sentence example:
They stand by a long time
Derivation:
standby (something that can be relied on when needed)
standby (an actor able to replace a regular performer when required)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Be loyal to
Example:
The friends stuck together through the war
Synonyms:
adhere; stand by; stick; stick by
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Hypernyms (to "stand by" is one way to...):
be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Sense 3
Meaning:
Not act or do anything
Example:
He just stood by when the police beat up the demonstrators
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Hypernyms (to "stand by" is one way to...):
forbear; refrain (resist doing something)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Context examples:
"I think I am nearer the truth," she replied, "when I stand by the established, than you are, raging around like an iconoclastic South Sea Islander."
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Or else he would see a room in a rich house, where his friend lay asleep, dreaming and smiling at his dreams; and then the door of that room would be opened, the curtains of the bed plucked apart, the sleeper recalled, and lo! there would stand by his side a figure to whom power was given, and even at that dead hour, he must rise and do its bidding.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
They will come and stand by my chair, and say, 'Grandpapa, can you give me a bit of string?' and once Henry asked me for a knife, but I told him knives were only made for grandpapas.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
The gray ordered me to stand by him; and much discourse passed between him and his friend concerning me, as I found by the stranger’s often looking on me, and the frequent repetition of the word Yahoo.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
It is Christmas Eve. I dance, drink, make a good time, for to-morrow is Christmas Day and we will rest. But no. It is five o'clock in the morning—Christmas morning. I am two hours asleep. The man stand by my bed. 'Come, Charley,' he says, 'harness the dogs. We start.'
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
Meg has John and the babies to comfort her, but you must stand by Father and Mother, won't you Jo?
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
But, you mark, I stand by you through thick and thin.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
And if you would stand by yours, you would not be much distressed by the disappointment of Miss Thorpe.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
I shall stand by him, therefore, and he shall neither be put out on the road, nor shall his ears be offended indoors.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Stand by me and we’ll save her, if I have to leave my carcass in Charlington Wood.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
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