Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To stand out plainly.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To resist effectually; withstand; sustain without yielding.
  • To stand or remain beyond; outstay.
  • To project outward from the main body; stand out prominently; be prominent.
  • To stand out to sea.
  • To stand over; remain untouched, unimpaired, unsettled, uncollected, unpaid, or otherwise undetermined: as, outstanding contracts.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To stand out, or project, from a surface or mass; hence, to remain standing out.
  • transitive verb rare To resist effectually; to withstand; to sustain without yielding.
  • transitive verb To stay beyond.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To resist effectually; withstand; sustain without yielding.
  • verb transitive To surpass in standing; stand or remain beyond; outstay.
  • verb intransitive To project outward from the main body; stand out prominently; be prominent.
  • verb intransitive To stand out to sea.
  • verb intransitive To stand over; remain untouched, unimpaired, unsettled, uncollected, unpaid, or otherwise undetermined.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From out- +‎ stand. Cognate with Dutch uitstaan ("to abide, suffer, dree"), German ausstehen ("to stand, endure, abide"), Swedish utstå ("to suffer, endure, pass through").

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Examples

  • At first I thought nothing could possible outstand the Psy-Changeling series in your special dimension, but you made it!

    Release Celebrations!! Nalini Singh 2010

  • Total state and local debt outstand ing hit $200 million by 1840 and about $1 billion by 1880 ($22 billion in today's dollars).

    The Muni-Bond Debt Bomb 2010

  • He had of course researched her stats, and learned that she was of average intelligence and creativity and per - sonality, and below average in motivation; only her outstand - ing body displaced her from the ordinary.

    Here There Are Monsters 2010

  • Gag alert: She just impresses the hell out of me as an outstand career woman and has a good vibe and energy and I admire her as an individual.

    Archive 2009-09-01 2009

  • We need a woman President — and she would make an outstand-ing president of the United States!

    Should AAUW Endorse Hillary? « AAUW Dialog 2008

  • He will outstand in his family and will be a source of great pride and honor to his parents, brothers, and sisters.

    The Wrath of Khan 2005

  • He will outstand in his family and will be a source of great pride and honor to his parents, brothers, and sisters.

    The Wrath of Khan 2005

  • Or, as per Kirk, the real animals standing outstand waiting for attention to be petted?

    Breaking: Mark Kirk afraid of puppies? Ellen Beth Gill 2007

  • KING: We'll talk more, and we'll include your phone calls with our outstand panel.

    CNN Transcript - Larry King Live: What Role Should Religion Play in Politics? - August 10, 2000 2000

  • West Branch of the NP Youth and the UCDP Youth with their outstand - ing effort in coming together.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1998

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