stand by

1 phrasal verbphr v

a) NOT DO somethingto not do anything to help someone or prevent something from happening 袖手旁观 → bystander

I’m not going to stand by and see her hurt.

我不能袖手旁观眼看着她受伤。

b) stand by somethingPROMISE to keep a promise, agreement etc, or to say that something is still true 信守〔诺言〕；遵守〔协定〕；坚持某事物

I stand by what I said earlier.

我坚持早先说的话。

He stood by his convictions.

他坚持自己的信仰。

c) stand by somebodyFAITHFUL to stay loyal to someone and support them, especially in a difficult situation 〔尤指在困难情况下〕继续忠于某人，支持某人

His wife stood by him during his years in prison.

他坐牢的那几年里妻子一直对他不离不弃。

d) READYto be ready to do something if necessary 准备行动 → standby

Rescue crews were standing by in case of a breakdown.

救援人员随时待命抢修故障。

for

Stand by for our Christmas competition.

准备好参加我们的圣诞比赛活动。

stand by to do something

Police stood by to arrest any violent fans.

警察随时准备逮捕闹事球迷。

Examples from the Corpus

stand by• The crew was ordered to stand by for take-off.• The family stood by, knowing that she might wake up any minute.• The Foreign Minister had a helicopter standing by to whisk him to the northern city of Afula.

stand for• John Thorn, who makes red boxes for ministers, is standing by for a rash of orders.• Control said all that was just fine, and to stand by for instructions.• With students threatening to run a Barclays-style boycott against any that participate, stand by for more to pull out.• Engineering is advised to stand by for pictures from the live truck and the helicopter.• But it was really quite useful, since it alerted his audience to stand by for something unexpected.• Stand by for the countdown.• They've found the secret of happiness for all! - Stand by for the labour camps and the mass graves.

2 → variant of standby at standby1

stand byChinese