stand up for

Idioms and Phrases

Also, stick up for . Side with, defend, as in Paul always stands up for what he thinks is right , or Ginny has learned to stick up for her family . The first recorded use of the first term is by Shakespeare in King Lear (1:2), when Edmund, Gloucester's bastard son, says: “Now gods, stand up for bastards!” The colloquial variant was first recorded in 1837.

Related Words

• advocate
• condone
• confirm
• countenance
• defend
• explain
• favor
• maintain
• rationalize
• support
• sustain
• uphold
• validate
• vindicate
• warrant