To stand off and on

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Stand \Stand\ (st[a^]nd), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Stood}
   (st[oo^]d); p. pr. & vb. n. {Standing}.] [OE. standen; AS.
   standan; akin to OFries. stonda, st[=a]n, D. staan, OS.
   standan, st[=a]n, OHG. stantan, st[=a]n, G. stehen, Icel.
   standa, Dan. staae, Sw. st[*a], Goth. standan, Russ. stoiate,
   L. stare, Gr. 'ista`nai to cause to stand, sth^nai to stand,
   Skr. sth[=a]. [root]163. Cf. {Assist}, {Constant},
   {Contrast}, {Desist}, {Destine}, {Ecstasy}, {Exist},
   {Interstice}, {Obstacle}, {Obstinate}, {Prest}, n., {Rest}
   remainder, {Solstice}, {Stable}, a. & n., {Staff}, {Stage},
   {Stall}, n., {Stamen}, {Stanchion}, {Stanza}, {State}, n.,
   {Statute}, {Stead}, {Steed}, {Stool}, {Stud} of horses,
   {Substance}, {System}.]
   1. To be at rest in an erect position; to be fixed in an
      upright or firm position; as:
      (a) To be supported on the feet, in an erect or nearly
          erect position; -- opposed to {lie}, {sit}, {kneel},
          etc. "I pray you all, stand up!" --Shak.
      (b) To continue upright in a certain locality, as a tree
          fixed by the roots, or a building resting on its
          foundation.
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                It stands as it were to the ground yglued.
                                                  --Chaucer.
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                The ruined wall
                Stands when its wind-worn battlements are gone.
                                                  --Byron.
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   2. To occupy or hold a place; to have a situation; to be
      situated or located; as, Paris stands on the Seine.
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            Wite ye not where there stands a little town?
                                                  --Chaucer.
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   3. To cease from progress; not to proceed; to stop; to pause;
      to halt; to remain stationary.
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            I charge thee, stand,
            And tell thy name.                    --Dryden.
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            The star, which they saw in the east, went before
            them, till it came and stood over where the young
            child was.                            --Matt. ii. 9.
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   4. To remain without ruin or injury; to hold good against
      tendencies to impair or injure; to be permanent; to
      endure; to last; hence, to find endurance, strength, or
      resources.
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            My mind on its own center stands unmoved. --Dryden.
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   5. To maintain one's ground; to be acquitted; not to fail or
      yield; to be safe.
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            Readers by whose judgment I would stand or fall.
                                                  --Spectator.
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   6. To maintain an invincible or permanent attitude; to be
      fixed, steady, or firm; to take a position in resistance
      or opposition. "The standing pattern of their imitation."
      --South.
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            The king granted the Jews . . . to gather themselves
            together, and to stand for their life. --Esther
                                                  viii. 11.
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   7. To adhere to fixed principles; to maintain moral
      rectitude; to keep from falling into error or vice.
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            We must labor so as to stand with godliness,
            according to his appointment.         --Latimer.
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   8. To have or maintain a position, order, or rank; to be in a
      particular relation; as, Christian charity, or love,
      stands first in the rank of gifts.
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   9. To be in some particular state; to have essence or being;
      to be; to consist. "Sacrifices . . . which stood only in
      meats and drinks." --Heb. ix. 10.
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            Accomplish what your signs foreshow;
            I stand resigned, and am prepared to go. --Dryden.
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            Thou seest how it stands with me, and that I may not
            tarry.                                --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.
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   10. To be consistent; to agree; to accord.
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             Doubt me not; by heaven, I will do nothing
             But what may stand with honor.       --Massinger.
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   11. (Naut.) To hold a course at sea; as, to stand from the
       shore; to stand for the harbor.
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             From the same parts of heaven his navy stands.
                                                  --Dryden.
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   12. To offer one's self, or to be offered, as a candidate.
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             He stood to be elected one of the proctors of the
             university.                          --Walton.
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   13. To stagnate; not to flow; to be motionless.
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             Or the black water of Pomptina stands. --Dryden.
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   14. To measure when erect on the feet.
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             Six feet two, as I think, he stands. --Tennyson.
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   15. (Law)
       (a) To be or remain as it is; to continue in force; to
           have efficacy or validity; to abide. --Bouvier.
       (b) To appear in court. --Burrill.
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   16. (Card Playing) To be, or signify that one is, willing to
       play with one's hand as dealt.
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   {Stand by} (Naut.), a preparatory order, equivalent to {Be
      ready}.

   {To stand against}, to oppose; to resist.

   {To stand by}.
       (a) To be near; to be a spectator; to be present.
       (b) To be aside; to be set aside with disregard. "In the
           interim [we] let the commands stand by neglected."
           --Dr. H. More.
       (c) To maintain; to defend; to support; not to desert;
           as, to stand by one's principles or party.
       (d) To rest on for support; to be supported by.
           --Whitgift.
       (e) To remain as a spectator, and take no part in an
           action; as, we can't just stand idly by while people
           are being killed.

   {To stand corrected}, to be set right, as after an error in a
      statement of fact; to admit having been in error.
      --Wycherley.

   {To stand fast}, to be fixed; to be unshaken or immovable.

   {To stand firmly on}, to be satisfied or convinced of.
      "Though Page be a secure fool, and stands so firmly on his
      wife's frailty." --Shak.

   {To stand for}.
       (a) To side with; to espouse the cause of; to support; to
           maintain, or to profess or attempt to maintain; to
           defend. "I stand wholly for you." --Shak.
       (b) To be in the place of; to be the substitute or
           representative of; to represent; as, a cipher at the
           left hand of a figure stands for nothing. "I will not
           trouble myself, whether these names stand for the
           same thing, or really include one another." --Locke.
       (c) To tolerate; as, I won't stand for any delay.

   {To stand in}, to cost. "The same standeth them in much less
      cost." --Robynson (More's Utopia).

            The Punic wars could not have stood the human race
            in less than three millions of the species. --Burke.

   {To stand in hand}, to conduce to one's interest; to be
      serviceable or advantageous.

   {To stand off}.
       (a) To keep at a distance.
       (b) Not to comply.
       (c) To keep at a distance in friendship, social
           intercourse, or acquaintance.
       (d) To appear prominent; to have relief. "Picture is best
           when it standeth off, as if it were carved." --Sir H.
           Wotton.

   {To stand off and on} (Naut.), to remain near a coast by
      sailing toward land and then from it.

   {To stand on} (Naut.), to continue on the same tack or
      course.

   {To stand out}.
       (a) To project; to be prominent. "Their eyes stand out
           with fatness." --Psalm lxxiii. 7.
       (b) To persist in opposition or resistance; not to yield
           or comply; not to give way or recede.

                 His spirit is come in,
                 That so stood out against the holy church.
                                                  --Shak.

   {To stand to}.
       (a) To ply; to urge; to persevere in using. "Stand to
           your tackles, mates, and stretch your oars."
           --Dryden.
       (b) To remain fixed in a purpose or opinion. "I will
           stand to it, that this is his sense." --Bp.
           Stillingfleet.
       (c) To abide by; to adhere to; as to a contract,
           assertion, promise, etc.; as, to stand to an award;
           to stand to one's word.
       (d) Not to yield; not to fly; to maintain, as one's
           ground. "Their lives and fortunes were put in safety,
           whether they stood to it or ran away." --Bacon.
       (e) To be consistent with; to agree with; as, it stands
           to reason that he could not have done so; same as
           {stand with}, below .
       (f) To support; to uphold. "Stand to me in this cause."
           --Shak.

   {To stand together}, to be consistent; to agree.

   {To stand to reason} to be reasonable; to be expected.

   {To stand to sea} (Naut.), to direct the course from land.

   {To stand under}, to undergo; to withstand. --Shak.

   {To stand up}.
       (a) To rise from sitting; to be on the feet.
       (b) To arise in order to speak or act. "Against whom,
           when the accusers stood up, they brought none
           accusation of such things as I supposed." --Acts xxv.
           18.
       (c) To rise and stand on end, as the hair.
       (d) To put one's self in opposition; to contend. "Once we
           stood up about the corn." --Shak.

   {To stand up for}, to defend; to justify; to support, or
      attempt to support; as, to stand up for the
      administration.

   {To stand upon}.
       (a) To concern; to interest.
       (b) To value; to esteem. "We highly esteem and stand much
           upon our birth." --Ray.
       (c) To insist on; to attach much importance to; as, to
           stand upon security; to stand upon ceremony.
       (d) To attack; to assault. [A Hebraism] "So I stood upon
           him, and slew him." --2 Sam. i. 10.

   {To stand with}, to be consistent with. "It stands with
      reason that they should be rewarded liberally." --Sir J.
      Davies.
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