Notes on ‘stand’

stand up to – defend oneself in the face of criticism / bad treatment
eg If he shouts at you again you’ll have to stand up to him.
stand out – be clearly superior
eg He stood out from the others even then = he was obviously more able / ambitious even at that point in time.
stand in – act in someone’s place, deputise
eg Could you stand in for John at the meeting? He’s off ill.
stand down – resign from a position
eg The Chairman of the International Bank has stood down following pressure from the media.
stand for – represent
eg The firm stands for decency and honesty in matters of corruption

stand – tolerate, bear
eg a He says he can’t stand people lying to him.

stand is also used of intolerable physical suffering.

eg b The violence was more than they could stand.
(also stand for = to refuse to tolerate something impolite or offensive eg I won’t stand for that attitude – I won’t tolerate that attitude.Stand for is not used in the sense of b above)
stand up for – speak or act in support of
eg Thanks for standing up for me in front of the boss! = Thank you for supporting me….
Thanks for has an ironic use, too – so here it could mean ‘I noticed you didn’t support me when I needed you to‘.
stand by – support or remain loyal to
eg He stood by his daughter during her divorce.

Idioms

stand up and be counted – state publicly one’s support for someone or something
‘If he can’t stand the heat he should get out of the kitchen.’ He obviously can’t tolerate / cope with the difficulties of a situation, so he should make sure he finds a way to avoid having to do so.
stand on one’s own two feet – be or become self-reliant, or independent
stand trial – be tried in a court of law

Now you’ve stood up, what about sitting down?

‘I’m not going to take this sitting (or lying) down.’ = I am not going to tolerate this, I’m going to challenge / defy / resist what is being forced / imposed on me / us / the office / the organisation / the profession etc