stance

noun \ ˈstan(t)s \

Definition of stance

1 chiefly Scotland

a : station

b : site

2 a : a way of standing or being placed : posture

b : intellectual or emotional attitude

took an antiwar stance

3 a : the position of the feet of a golfer or batter preparatory to making a swing

b : the position of both body and feet from which an athlete starts or operates

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Recent Examples of stance from the Web

Changing up a couple things in my stance and whatnot, focusing on a few things technique wise.

— jon schlosser, ajc, "Cowboys tackle Chaz Green is avoiding social media," 17 Nov. 2017
Still, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is one of Mr. Trump’s closest allies among world leaders and Mr. Abe has steadfastly supported the Trump administration in its aggressive stance toward North Korea.

— motoko rich, New York Times, "Ivanka Trump, a Media Darling in Japan, Draws Light Turnout in Tokyo," 3 Nov. 2017
That’s the stance of the Allen Institute for Brain Science, which this week released the first open-access database of live human brain cells.

— giorgia guglielmi, Science | AAAS, "Top stories: Yellowstone’s supervolcano, new CRISPR tools, and the odd growth strategy of ancient trees," 27 Oct. 2017
Yet Mr Kurz’s obdurate stance on borders is now conventional wisdom across the EU.

— The Economist, "Sebastian Kurz is flirting with the far-right Freedom Party," 19 Oct. 2017
Some media members have contended since the offseason that Kaepernick was being blackballed by NFL teams based on his political stance.

— mark maske, Philly.com, "Kaepernick files grievance accusing NFL teams of colluding against him," 15 Oct. 2017
Despite the apparent solidarity, Trump did not relent on his stance.

— javonte anderson, Post-Tribune, "Anthem protests strike a nerve in Northwest Indiana," 26 Sep. 2017
The formula was not working, and the results were ugly, and Gordon searched for answers, working with hitting coach Dale Sveum to be more upright in his stance.

— rustin dodd, kansascity, "Royals beat White Sox 8-2, and Alex Gordon is starting to shows signs of life," 23 Sep. 2017
There was a lot of bulking up, tennis lessons, learning her stance, and feeling my way into her body.

— julie miller, HWD, "Emma Stone on Battle of the Sexes, Her Love Scene, and That “Surreal” Oscar Win," 10 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'stance.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of stance

Middle English stance, staunce, from Middle French estance position, posture, stay, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *stantia, from Latin stant-, stans, present participle of stare to stand

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First Known Use: 14th century

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