withstand

English

Etymology

From Middle English withstanden, from Old English wiþstandan, from Proto-West Germanic *wiþistandan (“to withstand, resist”), equivalent to with- (“against”) +‎ stand. Cognate with Old Frisian withstanda (“to resist”). Compare also Dutch weerstaan (“to withstand, repel”), German widerstehen (“to withstand, resist, defy”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɪðˈstænd/, /wɪθˈstænd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ænd
• Hyphenation: with‧stand

Verb

withstand (third-person singular simple present withstands, present participle withstanding, simple past and past participle withstood)

1. (transitive) To resist or endure (something) successfully.
   • 1980, Robert M. Jones, editor, Walls and Ceilings, Time-Life Books, →ISBN, page 65:

     Tests showed that a tin ceiling could withstand a temperature of 1,369° for an hour and 10 minutes, whereas plaster collapsed in 12 minutes.

   • 2014 October 26, Jeff Howell, “Is the Japanese knotweed threat exaggerated? Our troubleshooter calls for calm about Japanese knotweed in the garden – and moss on the roof [print version: Don't panic about an overhyped invasion, 25 October 2014, p. P13]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Property)‎^[1]:

     Some old, underfired clay pantiles might be damaged by button mosses rooting in cracks and fissures. But most post-war tiles are hard enough to withstand a bit of moss growth.

2. To oppose (something) forcefully.

Derived terms

• dielectric withstand test
• withstander

Related terms

• notwithstanding
• withstanding

Translations

to resist

• Arabic: قَاوَمَ (qāwama)
• Armenian: դիմանալ (hy) (dimanal), տոկալ (hy) (tokal)
• Bulgarian: издържам (bg) (izdǎržam), устоявам (bg) (ustojavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 抵抗 (zh) (dǐkàng), 反抗 (zh) (fǎnkàng), 抵禦／抵御 (zh) (dǐyù)

• Dutch: weerstaan (nl)
• Esperanto: rezisti
• Finnish: kestää (fi)
• French: résister (fr)
• Galician: resistir
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: widerstehen (de)
• Greek: αντέχω (el) (antécho)
• Hungarian: ellenáll (hu)
• Italian: resistere (it)
• Japanese: 抵抗する (ja) (ていこうする, teikō suru), 反抗する (ja) (はんこうする, hankō suru), 耐える (ja) (たえる, taeru), 堪える (ja) (たえる, taeru), 撃退する (ja) (げきたいする, gekitai suru)
• Khmer: ទប់ទល់ (km) (tuptŭəl)
• Korean: 맞서다 (ko) (matseoda), 버티다 (ko) (beotida)
• Lithuanian: atlaikyti, atsilaikyti
• Maori: whakawhena, ātete
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Old English: wiþstandan
• Old Saxon: widarstandan, witharstandan
• Polish: wytrzymywać (pl) impf, wytrzymać (pl) pf
• Portuguese: aguentar (pt)
• Russian: сопротивля́ться (ru) impf (soprotivljátʹsja), противостоя́ть (ru) impf (protivostojátʹ), проти́виться (ru) impf (protívitʹsja), вы́стоять (ru) pf (výstojatʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: cum ri
• Spanish: aguantar (es)
• Thai: ต่อต้าน (th) (dtɔ̀ɔ-dtâan), ต้านทาน (th) (dtâan-taan)
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: chống chọi

to oppose

• Bulgarian: противостоя (bg) (protivostoja)
• Finnish: vastustaa (fi)
• Italian: fronteggiare (it)
• Russian: сопротивля́ться (ru) impf (soprotivljátʹsja), противостоя́ть (ru) impf (protivostojátʹ)
• Turkish: karşı koymak (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• German: ^{(please verify)} widerstehen (de) (1,2)