Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
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verb
To play one's hand without drawing any more cards.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Topics: card-games, poker
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To stop hitting; to declare one's hand as final.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Topics: blackjack, games
Synonyms: stand, stick
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To resist changes.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: idiomatic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
refuse to abandon one's opinion or belief
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: stand firm, hold firm, stand fast
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: insist, take a firm stand
Narrower terms: hunker down
History
Probably originally a poker phrase, with "pat" equaling "optimal", meaning that drawing more cards is unnecessary. Later the phrase came to be employed in other spheres. "Stand pat" was actively used in U.S. political campaigns of the 1900s, quickly gaining a sense of "being reactionary, resistant to dramatic changes in policy". Moreover, a noun, standpatter, was coined to denote such politicians.
