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stand up

/ˈstændˌʌp/verb

stand up is spelled S-T-A-N-D-U-P: 7 letters. As a verb, stand up means “To rise from a lying or sitting position” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in stand up?

Letters7: S-T-A-N-D-U-P
In writinga phrase: the frequency list counts single words
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How do you pronounce stand up?

  • /ˈstændˌʌp/

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-stand_up.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-stand-up.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with stand up

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

Also written: standup (one word or two).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of stand up

  • stands up present, singular, he/she/it
  • standing up participle, present
  • stood up participle, past
  • more stand-up comparative
  • most stand-up superlative
  • standup

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does stand up mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To rise from a lying or sitting position.

    Stand up, then sit down again.

  2. 2

    To bring something up and set it into a standing position; to set something up.

    Laura stood the sofa up on end.

  3. 3

    (stand someone up) To avoid a prearranged meeting, especially a date, with (a person) without prior notification; to jilt or shirk.

    John stood Laura up at the movie theater.

  4. 4

    To last or endure over a period of time.

  5. 5

    To continue to be believable, consistent, or plausible.

  6. 6

    To stand immediately behind the wicket so as to catch balls from a slow or spin bowler, and to attempt to stump the batsman.

  7. 7

    To launch, propel upwards

  8. 8

    USTo formally activate and commission (a unit, formation, etc.).

adjective

as stand-up
  1. 1

    Honest; honorable; genuine.

    He's a stand-up guy, and a hard worker.

  2. 2

    Upright; while standing.

    stand-up comedy

  3. 3

    Performed while standing although normally done while sitting.

    Every morning we have a stand-up meeting.

  4. 4

    That allows the batter to advance to a given base (usually second or third) without having to slide.

    stand-up double; stand-up triple

noun

as stand-up
  1. 1

    A performance of stand-up comedy; jokes delivered standing on a stage

    Sometimes the club has music, sometimes stand-up.

  2. 2

    A comedian who performs on stage.

  3. 3

    A news broadcast delivered by an announcer who is filmed standing near the scene of the event.

  4. 4

    A short meeting throughout which participants remain standing (to encourage brevity).

    How come you weren't at the stand-up this morning?

  5. 5

    A free-standing photographic print or promotional item; a standee.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Stand up in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchse lever, se mettre debout (rise from a sitting position), mettre debout (bring something up and set it into a standing…), poser un lapin à, faire faux bond à (to avoid a prearranged meeting)
Germanaufstehen (rise from a sitting position), aufstellen (bring something up and set it into a standing…), sitzen lassen, versetzen (to avoid a prearranged meeting)
Portugueselevantar (rise from a sitting position), erguer (bring something up and set it into a standing…), dar um bolo (to avoid a prearranged meeting)
Spanishlevantarse, ponerse de pie, pararse, enhestarse, arriba (rise from a sitting position), levantar (bring something up and set it into a standing…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does stand up come from?

From Middle English standen up, from Old English standan up; equivalent to stand + up. Compare Old Norse standa upp.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after stand up