stand to reason

English

WOTD – 28 June 2021

Etymology

From stand ((archaic or obsolete) to be consistent; to accord, agree) + to + reason.[1][2]

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌstænd tə ˈɹiːzn̩/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˌstænd tə ˈɹiz(ə)n/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -iːzən
  • Hyphenation: stand to rea‧son

Verb

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

  1. (idiomatic) To seem logical, rational, or reasonable; to make sense.
    • 1966, M[argaret] I. Clarke, Care of the Horse and Pony, San Francisco, Calif.: Tri-Ocean Books, →OCLC, page 45, column 1:
      It stands to reason that because of the difference in climate the necessity for rugging a horse in Australia would vary considerably from that in cold countries like England []
    • 2019 May 5, Danette Chavez, “Campaigns are Waged On and Off the Game Of Thrones Battlefield (Newbies)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 28 January 2021:
      But if the saying that those who want to govern, shouldn’t, applies here, does it really stand to reason that reluctant, brooding, can’t-be-bothered-to-say-goodbye-to-Ghost-the-good-boy types should?

Translations

See also

References

  1. it stands to (also †with) (†great, good, etc.) reason” under reason, n.1”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2021; stands to reason, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. stand, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2018.
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