stand to reason
English
editEtymology
editFrom stand (“(archaic or obsolete) to be consistent; to accord, agree”) + to + reason.[1][2]
Pronunciation
edit- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌstænd tə ˈɹiːzn̩/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˌstænd tə ˈɹiz(ə)n/
Audio (General Australian): (file) - Rhymes: -iːzən
- Hyphenation: stand to rea‧son
Verb
editstand to reason (third-person singular simple present stands to reason, present participle standing to reason, simple past and past participle stood to reason)
- (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[1], 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
editto seem logical, rational, or reasonable — see also make sense
|
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ “it stands to (also †with) (†great, good, etc.) reason” under “reason, n.1”, in OED Online
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2021; “stands to reason, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- ^ “stand, v.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2018.
