<B>stand-by</B> or <B>standby, </B>noun, pl. <B>-bys,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a person or thing that can be relied upon; chief support; ready resource. <BR> <I>Ex. Verdi's music for this old stand-by never fails (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 2a. </B>a ship, boat, or other vessel kept in readiness for emergencies. <DD><B> b. </B>an order or signal for a vessel to stand by. <DD><B> 3. </B>a person or thing that stands by to serve as a substitute or replacement: <DD><B> a. </B>a person waiting to replace an airplane passenger who fails to show up or cancels his trip. <DD><B> b. </B>a motion-picture stand-in. <DD><I>adj. </I> in a position of readiness or reserve. <BR> <I>Ex. a stand-by loan, stand-by passengers.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>on stand-by,</B> </I>waiting in readiness or reserve. <BR> <I>Ex. During the emergency, nurses and doctors were on stand-by twenty-four hours a day.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="standee">
<B>standee, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Informal.) a person who has to stand, as in a theater or on a bus, because he cannot obtain a seat. </DL>
<A NAME="standerby">
<B>stander-by, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who stands near or looks on but does not take part; bystander. </DL>
<A NAME="standfast">
<B>standfast, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> that holds stubbornly to an opinion, attitude, etc.; stubborn. <DD><I>noun </I> a fixed or stable position. </DL>
<A NAME="standin">
<B>stand-in, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person whose work is standing in the place of a motion-picture actor or actress while the lights, camera, or costumes, are being arranged, or during scenes in which dangerous action occurs. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative:) <BR> <I>Ex. Certainly, the New Dealing Advisory Council of the National Democratic Committee has been an inadequate stand-in for a national party leader (Wall Street Journal).</I> (SYN) substitute. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Informal.) a favorable position; good standing. <DD><B> 4. </B>(U.S.) the presence of Blacks in a line of persons waiting to enter a theater or other public accommodation or entertainment, as a protest against racial segregation. </DL>
<A NAME="standing">
<B>standing, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1a. </B>rank or position in society, a profession or business, religion, or the like; social, professional, or commercial reputation; status. <BR> <I>Ex. a person of good standing. What people say behind your back is your standing in the community (E. W. Howe).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(Law.) the right or qualification to institute a lawsuit because of a personal interest or stake in its outcome. <BR> <I>Ex. Federal District Judge William B. Jones ruled in Washington that neither group had standing to sue (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>good or high rank or reputation. <DD><B> 3. </B>length of service, experience, residence, or the like, especially as determining position, wages, or privileges. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) length of existence; duration. <BR> <I>Ex. a feud of long standing between two families.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>the act of one who stands, in any sense. <DD><B> 6. </B>the time at, in, or during which one stands. <DD><B> 7. </B>a place in which to stand; post; station. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>straight up; erect; upright. <BR> <I>Ex. standing timber.</I> (SYN) perpendicular. <DD><B> 2. </B>done from or in an erect position. <BR> <I>Ex. a standing jump. The audience's greeting ... was in the form of a standing ovation (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>that stands up, upright, or on end. <BR> <I>Ex. a standing lamp or collar.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>established; permanent. <BR> <I>Ex. a standing invitation, a standing joke.</I> (SYN) lasting, enduring. <DD><B> 5. </B>remaining at rest or in a fixed position: <DD><B> a. </B>not flowing; stagnant. <BR> <I>Ex. standing water.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>not in operation; at a standstill. <BR> <I>Ex. a standing machine.</I> <DD><B> c. </B>remaining stationary, especially while another part moves. </DL>
<A NAME="standingarmy">
<B>standing army,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the regular army, as a permanently organized military force. <DD><B> 2. </B>an army, or that part of it, which is under arms and ready for immediate action, especially in time of peace, and usually including reservists and conscripts as well as members of the regular army. </DL>
<A NAME="standingbroadjump">
<B>standing broad jump,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a broad jump made from a standing position, without a running start. </DL>
<A NAME="standingcommittee">
<B>standing committee,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a permanent committee, as of a legislative body or club, selected or elected to deal with all matters in a particular sphere. </DL>
<A NAME="standinghighjump">
<B>standing high jump,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a high jump made from a standing position without a running start. </DL>
<A NAME="standingoperatingprocedure">
<B>standing operating procedure,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any fixed procedure such as standardized instructions for carrying out a particular task. (Abbr:) SOP (no periods). Also, <B>standard operating procedure.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="standingorder">
<B>standing order,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Military.) a regulation for operation or procedure mandatory for an entire command, or for specified members of it, and not subject to change by subordinate or temporary commanders. <BR><I>expr. <B>standing orders,</B> </I>the regular rules for procedure in parliamentary bodies, in force from session to session unless specifically rescinded or repealed. <BR> <I>Ex. Both houses have agreed, at various times, to standing orders, for the permanent guidance and order of their proceedings (Thomas Erskine May).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="standingrigging">
<B>standing rigging,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the ropes, stays, and other lines supporting the masts and fixed spars. </DL>
<A NAME="standingroom">
<B>standing room,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>space to stand in after all the seats are taken; accommodation for a standee or standees. <BR> <I>Ex. standing room at the back of a theater.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>space to stand in, especially space having sufficient headroom for a person to stand erect in. </DL>
<A NAME="standingwave">
<B>standing wave,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Physics.) a wave characterized by lack of vibration at certain points, between which areas of maximum vibration occur periodically; stationary wave. Standing waves are produced by the interference of two similar waves traveling at the same time in opposite directions, as in the vibration of a violin string. </DL>
<A NAME="standish">
<B>standish, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a stand containing ink, pens, and other writing materials and accessories; inkstand. </DL>
<A NAME="standoff">
<B>stand-off</B> or <B>standoff, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a tie or draw in a game. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative:) <BR> <I>Ex. It is far easier to maintain a stand-off between two superpowers than between three or four (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a standing off or apart; reserve; aloofness. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>=stand-offish.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="standoffbomb">
<B>stand-off bomb,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a guided missile fired from an airplane at a ground target several hundred miles away. </DL>
<A NAME="standoffhalfback">
<B>stand-off halfback</B> or <B>half,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Rugby Football.) the halfback who takes a position between the scrum-half and the three-quarter back; outside half. </DL>
<B>stand oil,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> linseed oil or tung oil made heavy and thick by heating under pressure, used as a medium in paint and varnish. </DL>
<A NAME="standout">
<B>stand-out</B> or <B>standout, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a person or thing that is outstanding of its kind, especially in excellence. <BR> <I>Ex. Kudos ... to the hostess who is ever on the lookout for goodies to make the cookout a stand-out (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal.) a person who refuses to act with the others of a group or accept the desires of the majority. <DD><I>adj. </I> (Informal.) outstanding. <BR> <I>Ex. He has written a lot of stand-out stories in his time (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="standpat">
<B>standpat, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) standing firm for things as they are; opposing any change. </DL>
<A NAME="standpatter">
<B>standpatter, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) a person who stands firm for things as they are and opposes any change, especially in politics. (SYN) do-nothing. </DL>
<A NAME="standpattism">
<B>standpattism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) the principles or conduct of standpatters; condition of being a standpatter. </DL>
<A NAME="standpipe">
<B>standpipe, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a large, upright pipe or tower to hold water at a height great enough to provide pressure for a water system, especially one used as a reservoir or auxiliary to a reservoir. </DL>
<A NAME="standpoint">
<B>standpoint, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the point at which one stands to view something; point of view; mental attitude. <BR> <I>Ex. From his standpoint, combing one's hair is a waste of time. To judge of the total scientific achievement of any age, the standpoint of a succeeding age is desirable (William Tyndall).</I> </DL>
<B>standstill, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a complete stop; halt; pause. <BR> <I>Ex. All activity about the place had come to a standstill at noontime.</I> (SYN) cessation, deadlock. <DD><B> 2. </B>a state of being unable to proceed, owing to exhaustion. <BR> <I>Ex. [Robert E.] Lee could not extricate himself and his supply trains without fighting Meade's army to a standstill (Sir Winston Churchill).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>that is at a standstill. <BR> <I>Ex. The old standstill Mexico of manana and the travel posters is scrambling toward prosperity (Time).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>of the nature of a standstill. <DD><B> 3. </B>causing a standstill. <BR> <I>Ex. The standstill strike forced industry to negotiate a work contract.</I> </DL>
