stand your ground

Meaning

To refuse to back down, change your mind, or yield when facing opposition or pressure. In business, it means defending your opinion, price, or policy during negotiations or debates.

Examples

• During the salary negotiation, make sure to stand your ground and don't accept less than you're worth.

  During the salary negotiation, make sure to stand your ground and don't accept less than you're worth.

• The client tried to push the deadline forward, but the project manager stood her ground.

  The client tried to push the deadline forward, but the project manager stood her ground.

• It's hard to stand your ground when everyone else in the meeting disagrees with you.

  It's hard to stand your ground when everyone else in the meeting disagrees with you.

• He stood his ground during the budget dispute and successfully saved his team's funding.

  He stood his ground during the budget dispute and successfully saved his team's funding.

• If they ask for a discount, we need to stand our ground on the pricing structure we agreed on.

  If they ask for a discount, we need to stand our ground on the pricing structure we agreed on.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ You must stand your floor during the negotiation.

  ✓ You must stand your ground during the negotiation.

  The idiom is fixed as 'stand your ground'; you cannot substitute 'ground' with 'floor', 'place', or other synonyms.

• ✗ She stood her ground against to the manager.

  ✓ She stood her ground against the manager.

  The preposition 'against' should not be followed by 'to'. Simply say 'stand your ground against [someone/something]'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• Even though the client was angry, the support agent had to ___ regarding the refund policy.

  💡 Refuse to back down or change her position (third-person feminine).

  Show answer

  stand her ground

• If you believe your proposal is correct, you should ___ and not let them intimidate you.

  💡 Defend your position confidently.

  Show answer

  stand your ground