Definition of STANDPAT

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If you stand pat in draw poker you're betting on the cards in your hand being better than any you're likely to draw. It didn't take long for stand pat to move from the poker table, where it first appeared in the late 1800s, to the realm of politics; by the early 20th century, to stand pat was to oppose any change in U.S. tariff policy. The term continues to be used mainly in U.S. English, where it's applied to everything from a coach's decision not to change out players during a game to a homeowner's decision not to refinance. The nouns standpatter ("one who resists or opposes change") and standpattism ("resistance to change" or "reluctance to take positive action") are also used, although generally only in political contexts.

Examples of standpat in a Sentence

Adjective the standpat chefs were having none of this low-calorie stuff that the food police were pushing

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb While many investors have heeded the general advice to stand pat and give markets time to recover, there are times when investors are forced to make decisions regarding their accounts. — Daisy Maxey, WSJ, "What to Do With a 401(k) When Leaving a Job," 20 Apr. 2020 That would allow the Lions to win the lottery simply by standing pat and drafting all-world edge rusher Chase Young from Ohio State. — Carlos Monarrez, Detroit Free Press, "Here are the Detroit Lions' best- and worst-case 2020 NFL draft scenarios," 20 Jan. 2020 Read more: Abe and Aso Leave Gap With BOJ Over 2% Inflation Target All 42 economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast the BOJ will stand pat on policy at the end of Tuesday’s meeting. — Toru Fujioka, Bloomberg.com, "Deflation Didn’t Even Get a Mention in Japanese Prime Minister’s Annual Speech," 8 May 2020 And there are growing expectations that the Federal Reserve might need to lower interest rates some time in 2020 instead of standing pat. — Paul R. La Monica, CNN, "How low can bond rates go?," 17 Feb. 2020 Teams that stand pat do not often keep their place at the front of the line. — Matt Porter, BostonGlobe.com, "How Don Sweeney might reshape the Bruins," 17 June 2019 This is not likely to be like 2013, when the Giants stood pat at the deadline while here in Philly. — Henry Schulman, SFChronicle.com, "Where the Giants stand 24 hours before the trade deadline," 30 July 2019 Coach Mike Ditka and general manager Bill Tobin decided to stand pat at No. — Will Larkin, chicagotribune.com, "Ranking the 100 best Bears players ever: No. 57, Neal Anderson," 11 July 2019 At that juncture, Charlotte’s best bet would have likely been standing pat and going forward full force with a youth movement. — Rohan Nadkarni, SI.com, "Hornets Hit Panic Button in Acquiring Terry Rozier From Celtics," 30 June 2019

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