stand out

English

Verb

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

1. (intransitive) To persist in opposition or resistance (against something); to refuse to comply (with someone).
   • 1789, John Moore, Zeluco, Valancourt, published 2008, page 131:

     Indeed he had no notion that Madame de Seidlits, or her daughter, had a serious intention of standing out against a match which he thought so advantageous to both.

2. (intransitive) To be obvious or conspicuous, in contrast to the surroundings.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:stand out

   Tourist guides often carry umbrellas so that they stand out in a crowd.

   • 1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter VIII, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, (please specify |part=I, II, or III), New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, →OCLC:

     The path led straight across the clearing into another forest, lying upon the verge of which I saw a bit of white. It appeared to stand out in marked contrast and incongruity to all its surroundings, and when I stopped to examine it, I found that it was a small strip of muslin—part of the hem of a garment.

   • 1950 January, Arthur F. Beckenham, “With British Railways to the Far North”, in Railway Magazine, page 5:

     At Stirling, we obtained a wonderful silhouette view of the Wallace Monument, and the dark line of the Ochil Hills, and the castle stood out clearly against the afterglow of the sunset.

   • 2020 August 26, Nigel Harris, “Comment Special: Catastrophe at Carmont”, in Rail, page 4:

     A ray of light amid all this nonsense was Gwyn Topham's piece in the Guardian, which was timely, measured, accurate and of appropriate tone. That this single report stood out so clearly as an exemplar is a scathing comment in itself on the volumes of drivel surrounding it.

3. (intransitive) To be extraordinary and different or to have features and qualities which make someone or something special.

   She stood out from the other candidates and was offered the job.

   • 2011 October 1, John Sinnott, “Aston Villa 2 – 0 Wigan”, in BBC Sport‎:

     The Scottish midfielder had an impressive game for Villa and his passing and vision stood out throughout.

   • 2013 June 7, Joseph Stiglitz, “Globalisation is about taxes too”, in The Guardian Weekly‎, volume 188, number 26, page 19:

     It is time the international community faced the reality: we have an unmanageable, unfair, distortionary global tax regime. It is a tax system that is pivotal in creating the increasing inequality that marks most advanced countries today – with America standing out in the forefront and the UK not far behind.

4. (intransitive, nautical) To sail in a direction away from shore.
   • 1881, P. Chr. Asbjörnsen [i.e., Peter Christen Asbjørnsen], translated by H. L. Brækstad, Round the Yule Log. Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, →OCLC, page 181:

     One morning in the early grey of the dawn we stood out to sea to troll for mackerel.

   • 2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin, published 2015, page 23:

     The next day the breeze freshened and the Ibis duly stood out to sea.

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• outstand