Word.ws English Dictionary

stand trial

Syllables: stand tri·alUK/ˌstænd ˈtɹaɪəl//ˌstænd ˈtɹaɪ(ə)l/

stand trial verb: to be put on trial in a court of law; go on trial.

Verb

stand trial (third-person singular simple present stands trial, present participle standing trial, simple past and past participle stood trial)

  1. To be put on trial in a court of law; go on trial.
    • Also observe that if there be six weeks between the bayl and issue joyning, the Defendant shall not remove his playnt by writ, but shall stand tryall below.1658 (indicated as 1657), The Practise of the Sheriffs Court London. […], [London]: [s.n.], →OCLC; reprinted London: Arthur Taylor, […], c. 1830, →OCLC, page 16
    • Alſo obſerve, That if there be ſix Weeks between the Bail and Iſſue Joyning, the Defendant ſhall not remove his Plaint by Writ, but ſhall ſtand Tryal below.1723, W[illiam] Bohun, “Fees Incident to the Sheriffs Court, &c. of London”, in Privilegia Londini: Or, The Rights, Liberties, Privileges, Laws, and Customs of the City of London. […], 3rd edition...
  2. (idiomatic) To sustain the trial or examination of a cause; not to give up without trial.
    • Nay, it ſeems, / My Boy has charg'd thee vvith't, before his yeares / Could vvarrant his ability in Combate, / And ſo is fallen; Or thou, not daring ſtand / Tryall in ſuch a cauſe, by treachery / Haſt cut him off; And com'ſt to make thy peace: / Preſuming on my Poverty, vvith money.1637–1638 (date written), Richard Brome, “The Damoiselle, or The New Ordinary. A Comedy.”, in A[lexander] Brome, editor, Five New Playes, […], London: […] Humphrey Moseley, Richard Marriot, and...
    • At a towne meting in Rye March 1, 1699–1700, the towne hath past a vote that they will not stand tryal with Mr. Woodbridg. At the same towne meting the towne hath by vote agreed that what shall be wanting of the mony that is due to Mʳ Woodbridg from the several persons that hath not yet paid the...c. 1700, Charles W[ashington] Baird, “The Churches: Early Ministry. 1674–1700.”, in Chronicle of a Border Town: History of Rye, Westchester County, New York 1660–1870 […], New York, N.Y.: Anson D. F....

Forms of stand trial

third-person singular presentstands trial
present participlestanding trial
past participlestood trial
paststood trial

Origin of stand trial

From stand (“to undergo, withstand”) + trial.

Questions about stand trial

What does stand trial mean?
Stand trial means to be put on trial in a court of law; go on trial.
What part of speech is stand trial?
Stand trial is a verb.
How do you pronounce stand trial?
Stand trial is pronounced /ˌstænd ˈtɹaɪəl/ (UK).
What is the past tense of stand trial?
The past tense of stand trial is stood trial.

Words near stand trial in the dictionary

  1. stand to pee
  2. stand to pees
  3. stand to reason
  4. stand together
  5. stand treat
  6. stand trial
  7. stand under
  8. stand up
  9. stand up against
  10. stand up and be counted
  11. stand up and give it to him

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: stand trial (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-stand trial.mp3, En-au-stand trial.ogg.

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