Defend vs. Stand — What's the Difference?

To make or keep safe from danger, attack, or harm

To rise to an upright position on the feet.

To engage in or be prepared to engage in battle to prevent (a population or area, for example) from being captured or occupied by an enemy.

To assume or maintain an upright position as specified

To attempt to prevent the opposition from scoring while playing in or near (a goal or area of a field, for example).

To maintain an upright position on the feet.

To be responsible for guarding (an opposing player).

To maintain an upright or vertical position on a base or support

To compete against a challenger in an attempt to retain (a championship).

To be placed or situated

To support or maintain, as by argument or action; justify

To remain stable, upright, or intact

To represent (a defendant) in a civil or criminal action.

To remain valid, effective, or unaltered

To attempt to disprove or invalidate (the claim made by a lawsuit or prosecution)

To be or show a specified figure or amount

To make a defense.

To measure a specified height when in an upright position

(Sports) To play defense.

To take up or maintain a specified position, altitude, or course

(transitive) To ward off attacks against; to fight to protect; to guard.

To be in a position of possible gain or loss

(transitive) To support by words or writing; to vindicate, talk in favour of.

To be in a specified state or condition

To make legal defence of; to represent (the accused).

To exist in a particular form

(sports) To focus one's energies and talents on preventing opponents from scoring, as opposed to focusing on scoring.

To be at a specified level on a scale or in an amount

(sports) To attempt to retain a title, or attempt to reach the same stage in a competition as one did in the previous edition of that competition.

To come to a stop; remain motionless.

(poker slang) To call a raise from the big blind.

To remain stationary or inactive

To ward off, repel (an attack or attacker).

To remain without flowing or being disturbed; be or become stagnant.

To prevent, to keep (from doing something).

(Nautical) To take or hold a particular course or direction

To prohibit, forbid.

To be available as a sire. Used of horses.

To ward or fend off; to drive back or away; to repel.

Chiefly British To be a candidate for public office.

To prohibit; to forbid.

To cause to stand; place upright.

To repel danger or harm from; to protect; to secure against attack; to maintain against force or argument; to uphold; to guard; as, to defend a town; to defend a cause; to defend character; to defend the absent; - sometimes followed by from or against; as, to defend one's self from, or against, one's enemies.

To engage in or encounter

To deny the right of the plaintiff in regard to (the suit, or the wrong charged); to oppose or resist, as a claim at law; to contest, as a suit.

To resist successfully; withstand

Argue or speak in defense of;

To put up with patiently or resolutely; bear

Be on the defensive; act against an attack

To submit to or undergo

Protect against a challenge or attack;

To tolerate and benefit from

Fight against or resist strongly;

To perform the duty of

Protect or fight for as a champion

(Informal) To treat (someone) or pay the cost of (food or drink)

Be the defense counsel for someone in a trial;

The act of standing.

State or assert;

A ceasing of work or activity; a standstill or halt.

A stop on a performance tour.

The place or station where a person stands.

A booth, stall, or counter for the display of goods for sale.

A parking space reserved for taxis.

A desperate or decisive effort at defense or resistance, as in a battle

A position or opinion one is prepared to uphold

Stands Rows of wooden or metal benches placed one above another for people watching a sports event or a performance.

(Law) A witness stand.

A small rack, prop, or table for holding any of various articles

A group or growth of tall plants or trees

To position or be positioned physically:

To support oneself on the feet in an erect position.

(intransitive) To rise to one’s feet; to stand up.

To remain motionless.

(intransitive) To be placed in an upright or vertical orientation.

(transitive) To place in an upright or standing position.

(intransitive) To occupy or hold a place; to be set, placed, fixed, located, or situated.

(intransitive) To measure when erect on the feet.

To be present, to have welled up.

To position or be positioned mentally:

To be positioned to gain or lose.

To tolerate.

To maintain one's ground; to be acquitted; not to fail or yield; to be safe.

To maintain an invincible or permanent attitude; to be fixed, steady, or firm; to take a position in resistance or opposition.

To be in some particular state; to have essence or being; to be; to consist.

To position or be positioned socially:

To act as an umpire.

(transitive) To undergo; withstand; hold up.

To be a candidate (in an election).

(intransitive) To be valid.

(transitive) To oppose, usually as a team, in competition.

(transitive) To cover the expense of; to pay for.

(intransitive) To have or maintain a position, order, or rank; to be in a particular relation.

(intransitive) To be consistent; to agree; to accord.

(intransitive) To appear in court.

Of a ship or its captain, to steer, sail (in a specified direction, for a specified destination etc.).

To remain without ruin or injury.

(card games) To stop asking for more cards; to keep one's hand as it has been dealt so far.

The act of standing.

A defensive position or effort.

A resolute, unwavering position; firm opinion; action for a purpose in the face of opposition.

A period of performance in a given location or venue.

A device to hold something upright or aloft.

The platform on which a witness testifies in court; the witness stand or witness box.

(historical) An area of raised seating for waiters at the stock exchange.

A particular grove or other group of trees or shrubs.

(forestry) A contiguous group of trees sufficiently uniform in age-class distribution, composition, and structure, and growing on a site of sufficiently uniform quality, to be a distinguishable unit.

A standstill, a motionless state, as of someone confused, or a hunting dog who has found game.

A small building, booth, or stage, as in a bandstand or hamburger stand.

A designated spot where someone or something may stand or wait.

The situation of a shop, store, hotel, etc.

(sports) Grandstand. often in the plural

(cricket) A partnership.

A single set, as of arms.

(obsolete) Rank; post; station; standing.

(dated) A state of perplexity or embarrassment.

A young tree, usually reserved when other trees are cut; also, a tree growing or standing upon its own root, in distinction from one produced from a scion set in a stock, either of the same or another kind of tree.

A location or position where one may stand.

(advertising) An advertisement filling an entire billboard, comprising many sheets of paper.

(fiction) A type of supernatural ability from the anime and manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, named for the fact that they appear to 'stand' next to their user.

A container which stands upright, such as a barrel or cask.

(obsolete) A weight of from two hundred and fifty to three hundred pounds, used in weighing pitch.

To be at rest in an erect position; to be fixed in an upright or firm position

To occupy or hold a place; to have a situation; to be situated or located; as, Paris stands on the Seine.

To cease from progress; not to proceed; to stop; to pause; to halt; to remain stationary.

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.

To maintain one's ground; to be acquitted; not to fail or yield; to be safe.

To maintain an invincible or permanent attitude; to be fixed, steady, or firm; to take a position in resistance or opposition.

To adhere to fixed principles; to maintain moral rectitude; to keep from falling into error or vice.

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.

To be in some particular state; to have essence or being; to be; to consist.

To be consistent; to agree; to accord.

To hold a course at sea; as, to stand from the shore; to stand for the harbor.

To offer one's self, or to be offered, as a candidate.

To stagnate; not to flow; to be motionless.

To measure when erect on the feet.

To be or remain as it is; to continue in force; to have efficacy or validity; to abide.

To be, or signify that one is, willing to play with one's hand as dealt.

To endure; to sustain; to bear; as, I can not stand the cold or the heat.

To resist, without yielding or receding; to withstand.

To abide by; to submit to; to suffer.

To set upright; to cause to stand; as, to stand a book on the shelf; to stand a man on his feet.

To be at the expense of; to pay for; as, to stand a treat.

The act of standing.

A halt or stop for the purpose of defense, resistance, or opposition; as, to come to, or to make, a stand.

A place or post where one stands; a place where one may stand while observing or waiting for something.

A station in a city or town where carriages or wagons stand for hire; as, a cab stand.

A raised platform or station where a race or other outdoor spectacle may be viewed; as, the judge's or the grand stand at a race course.

A small table; also, something on or in which anything may be laid, hung, or placed upright; as, a hatstand; an umbrella stand; a music stand.

The place where a witness stands to testify in court.

The situation of a shop, store, hotel, etc.; as, a good, bad, or convenient stand for business.

Rank; post; station; standing.

A state of perplexity or embarrassment; as, to be at a stand what to do.

A young tree, usually reserved when other trees are cut; also, a tree growing or standing upon its own root, in distinction from one produced from a scion set in a stock, either of the same or another kind of tree.

A weight of from two hundred and fifty to three hundred pounds, - used in weighing pitch.

A support or foundation;

The position where a thing or person stands

A growth of similar plants (usually trees) in a particular area;

A small table for holding articles of various kinds;

A support for displaying various articles;

An interruption of normal activity

A mental position from which things are viewed;

A booth where articles are displayed for sale

A stop made by a touring musical or theatrical group to give a performance;

Tiered seats consisting of a structure (often made of wood) where people can sit to watch an event (game or parade)

A platform where a (brass) band can play in the open air

A defensive effort;

Be standing; be upright;

Be in some specified state or condition;

Occupy a place or location, also metaphorically;

Hold one's ground; maintain a position; be steadfast or upright;

Have or maintain a position or stand on an issue;

Put up with something or somebody unpleasant;

Remain inactive or immobile;

Be in effect; be or remain in force;

Be tall; have a height of; copula;

Put into an upright position;

Withstand the force of something;

Be available for stud services;