Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

stand up on one's hind legs

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.41 in modern English

Syllables: stand up on one's hind legs
IPA

29

Scrabble Score

21

Letters

1

Syllables

13

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To act boldly; to take responsibility.

Informal

Example Sentences

"I copied them out of an American Automobile Association report because I'm on the spot for a talk at the Kiwanis Club luncheon next week, and I've found that whenever you've got to stand up on your hind legs and expose your ignorance the best thing you can do is put down a nice thick smoke screen of figures between you and your audience."
"We became the nation we are on principles of individual initiative, to stand up on our hind legs and lick them if they needed it, and they called it jingoism at one time, […]"
"Now we have got to stand up on our hind legs and fight harder than ever for the right to govern our domestic affairs without outside interference."

Usage

Informal

Inflected Forms

stands up on one's hind legs (present, singular) standing up on one's hind legs (participle, present) stood up on one's hind legs (participle, past) stood up on one's hind legs (past)

Questions

What does stand up on one's hind legs mean?: To act boldly; to take responsibility.

How to pronounce stand up on one's hind legs

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “stand up on one's hind legs”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “stand up on one's hind legs”.
Repeat and practice — Say “stand up on one's hind legs” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.