Synonyms stand

stand

get up ▪ stand up ▪ rise ▪ get to your feet ▪ be on your feet

These words all mean to be in a vertical position with your weight on your feet, or to put yourself in this position.

stand to be in an vertical position with your weight on your feet:

She was too weak to stand.

Stand still when I’m talking to you!

Stand is usually used with an adverb or prepositional phrase to show where or how somebody stands, but sometimes another phrase or clause is used to show what somebody does while they are standing: We stood talking for a few minutes. • He stood and looked out to sea.

get up to get into a standing position from a sitting, kneeling or lying position:

Please don’t get up!

stand up to be in a standing position; to stand after sitting:

Stand up straight!

Everyone would stand up when the teacher entered the classroom.

stand, get up or stand up?

Stand usually means ‘to be in a standing position’ but can also mean ‘to get into a standing position’. Stand up can be used with either of these meanings, but its use is more limited: it is used especially when somebody tells somebody or a group of people to stand. Get up is the most frequent way of saying ‘get into a standing position’, and this can be from a sitting, kneeling or lying position; if you stand up, this is nearly always after sitting, especially on a chair. If you want to tell somebody politely that they do not need to move from their chair, use get up: Please don’t stand up!

rise (formal) to get into a standing position from a sitting, kneeling or lying position:

Would you all rise, please, to welcome our visiting speaker.

get to your feet to stand up after sitting, kneeling or lying:

I helped her to get to her feet.

be on your feet to be standing up:

I’ve been on my feet all day.