Word.ws English Dictionary

stand up to be counted

stand up to be counted verb: to make one's opinions and beliefs known, especially when it is controversial and risky to do so; to take a stand.

Verb

stand up to be counted (third-person singular simple present stands up to be counted, present participle standing up to be counted, simple past and past participle stood up to be counted)

  1. To make one's opinions and beliefs known, especially when it is controversial and risky to do so; to take a stand.
    • So long as the Prohibitionists stand up to be counted as Prohibitionists they are only in danger of becoming ridiculous; when they stand up to be counted as Prohibitionists and several other things besides, they have become ridiculous—even more ridiculous than pathetic.1892 July 9, Digest: Review of Reviews Incorporating The Literary Digest, number 10, page 274
    • We are waiting for that day when men and women of this nation will stand up to be counted.2005, Kenya National Assembly Official Record (Hansard)
  2. To rise to the occasion; to deal with a new challenge in an effective manner.
    • England's understudies and new caps stood up to be counted – and Liverpool's 23-year-old midfielder Jones provided the high point of the night seven minutes from time, capping a top-class first senior appearance in joyous style.2024 November 14, Phil McNulty, “'A night of redemption for Carsley offers real hope for Tuchel'”, in BBC Sport

Forms of stand up to be counted

third-person singular presentstands up to be counted
present participlestanding up to be counted
past participlestood up to be counted
paststood up to be counted

Questions about stand up to be counted

What does stand up to be counted mean?
Stand up to be counted means to make one's opinions and beliefs known, especially when it is controversial and risky to do so; to take a stand.
What part of speech is stand up to be counted?
Stand up to be counted is a verb.
What is the past tense of stand up to be counted?
The past tense of stand up to be counted is stood up to be counted.

Words near stand up to be counted in the dictionary

  1. stand up guy
  2. stand up guys
  3. stand up on one's hind legs
  4. stand up paddleboarding
  5. stand up to
  6. stand up to be counted
  7. stand up to one's lick log
  8. stand up with
  9. stand upon
  10. stand upon one's dignity
  11. stand upon one's terms

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: stand up to be counted (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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