withstand

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. verb resist or confront with resistance
  2. verb stand up or offer resistance to somebody or something

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”), Russian противостоять (protivostojatʹ, “to withstand”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

defy, hold, hold up

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