grandstandn.
/ˈɡran(d)stand/, U.S. /ˈɡræn(d)ˌstænd/ The principal stand, usually roofed, offering the best view for spectators at a racecourse or other sporting venue; (figurative) the spectators in the grandstand.
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society > leisure > sport > place for sports or games > [noun]
ring?a1400
rink1489
game place1542
playing field1583
rink-room1594
stadium1603
cirque1644
xystus1664
amphitheatre1710
field1730
grandstand1754
chunk-yard1773
sports ground1862
park1867
sports field1877
pitch1895
close1898
sports centre1907
padang1909
sports stadium1911
bowl1913
field house1922
sportsdrome1951
sports complex1957
astrodome1964
dome1965
sportsplex1974
1754 Whitehall Evening-post 21–23 Nov. The Nobility and Gentry who have subscribed to the Grand Stand which is to be built upon Knavesmire..are desired to pay in their Subscription.
1834 N.Y. Sporting Mag. Nov. 169/1 At the Grand Stand Chapple let him go, and he won by a length in a canter.
1872 Earl of Pembroke & G. H. Kingsley South Sea Bubbles i. 20 On arriving at the course we were placed in the grand stand.
1909 Z. Grey Short-stop v. 65 He heard the growls of disapproval from the grandstand.
1934 A. Huxley Beyond Mexique Bay 285 A temporary Plaza de Toros had been built..a circular fence with a precarious grandstand on the shadier side.
1962 Life 23 Feb. 19/1 A glassed-in area between the clubhouse and the grandstand will be converted.
2010 New Yorker 6 Sept. 57/3 He hits..a lagged putt and in for a par. The grandstand is wild for him.
Compounds
C1. General attributive, as in grandstand roof, grandstand seating, etc.
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the mind > emotion > pride > ostentation > spectacular, sensational, or dramatic display > [adjective]
theatric1656
spectacular1682
theatrical1709
dramatic1726
sensationary1755
pyrotechnical1825
grandstand1835
pyrotechnic1848
sensational1859
razzle-dazzle1888
whizz-bang1919
glitzy1966
1835 York Herald 14 Mar. 2/4 (advt.) Two Grand Stand Tickets.
1847 Satirist 25 Apr. 135/1 We should like to see him the mere gentleman sportsman, the Grand Stand spectator.
1868 Illustr. London News 4 July 14/1 The Grandstand prices were unpardonable.
1879 Irish Times 23 Sept. 5/1 A row of grand stand seats will be erected close to the..back of the cricket ground.
1904 Lowell (Mass.) Sun 22 Aug. (6 o'clock ed.) 3/2 The program today was by far the best that the singles have brought out with Larned and Wright on the grandstand court.
1946 J. Dadswell Hey, Sucker 67 To help ‘pull’ the public they have livestock shows, grandstand productions, races, art and school exhibits, and farm machinery displays.
1948 L. Allen Cincinnati Reds xxi. 203 Bob Burdette..being the first to announce the contests from a shed on the grandstand roof.
1989 A. Miles Don't call me Brother viii. 52 Bill Pruyn, the bandmaster, stood out in front of the grandstand entrance.
2010 New Yorker 6 Sept. 56/2 From this same grandstand perch.
2014 Daily Tel. (Sydney) (Nexis) 30 Apr. (Sport section) 75 General admission alone was $30, with grandstand seating double that.
C2.
grandstand finish n. a close or exciting finish in a race or competition.
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1890 Logansport (Indiana) Chron. 19 July 5/2 No grand-stand finish to-day, Isaac; the Snapper's a hard one when it comes to a fight.
1958 F. C. Avis Boxing Ref. Dict. (U.S. ed.) 49 Grand stand finish, very vigorous exchanges of blows in the final round of a boxing contest.
2008 G. Gauld Cliff Allison iii. 51 I saw he was irate..but I was going for a grandstand finish.
grandstand play n. U.S. play in a game intended primarily to get applause from the spectators in the grandstand; (in extended use) behaviour designed to gain approval or attention; an instance of this.
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1883 Boston Post 20 Aug. 1 Williamson..went for a ‘grand stand play’, and threw a little wide to Anson.
1932 ‘B. Ross’ Trag. of X iii. x. 307 That was his grandstand play—an attempt to make good his former losses and cover his embezzlements.
1989 C. S. Murray Crosstown Traffic iii. 70 Hendrix's grandstand play for Marianne Faithfull was..a calculated slap at Jagger's own status.
1993 Toronto Sun 17 June 79/2 It's a grandstand play, but also a potentially effective one.
grandstand player n. U.S. a person who produces grandstand play; also in extended use.
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1888 M. J. Kelly ‘Play Ball’ viii. 39 It's little things of this sort which makes [sic] the ‘grand stand player’. They make impossible catches, and when they get the ball they roll all over the field.
1965 H. Carmichael & S. Longstreet Sometimes I Wonder iv. 31 Like everything else, it [sc. jazz] has its tricky flashy forms and grandstand players.
2013 Augusta (Georgia) Chron. 27 Oct. B1/2 Walsh was furious and he called Watson ‘a grandstand player’ and a ‘traitor’.
grandstand quarterback n. U.S. a spectator who believes he could run the (football) team better than the quarterback, and loudly gives advice from the grandstand; (in extended use) a person who gives an unsolicited judgment on an event or incident without being personally involved.
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1927 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 18 Oct. 15/1 Year after year, the grandstand quarterbacks and schedule makers moan because Notre Dame, Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Penn and such teams can not be induced to come here.
1976 Sunday Sun (Baltimore) 10 Oct. k4/4 Somebody who sits in Washington D.C., 18 months after the Mayaguez incident, can be a very good grandstand quarterback.
2004 M. Levy Marv Levy xxxi. 362 That grandstand quarterback had better numbers..than Jim had. While Jim had completed only five touchdown passes, that guy offering advice put away nine beers by the time the final gun sounded.
grandstand view n. a view from a grandstand; a particularly advantageous view. Also figurative.
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1895 Lafayette Weekly 22 231/1 Stephens treated his nine S.S. boys to a grandstand view of the Lehigh-Lafayette game last Saturday.
1958 Spectator 1 Aug. 172/2 Dumaine's shrewdness and his grandstand view of French post-war history.
2012 Buses Apr. 43/1 Customers may appreciate added space and a grandstand view to enhance their journey experience.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
grandstandv.
/ˈɡran(d)stand/, U.S. /ˈɡræn(d)ˌstænd/ Originally U.S.
intransitive. Of a sportsman or woman: to perform primarily with a view to gaining the approval of spectators in the grandstand. Hence: to seek to attract favourable public or media attention; to speak in a manner calculated to achieve this.
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1915 Pocahontas (Iowa) Rec. 30 Sept. 2/2 Mr. Allen is not grandstanding—he believes in everything he is advocating with all his strength.
1935 E. S. Gardner Case of Howling Dog xv. 151 The public will think you're simply grandstanding for the purpose of getting a big fee out of the trial.
1970 B. Knox Children of Mist v. 114 Adam Jennings loves a chance to grandstand. This was made to order.
1989 I. I. Mitroff & W. G. Bennis Unreality Industry 197 He never grandstanded, bragged, or showed off. In short, Adam was an all around pleasant, nice kid in every way.
2007 in C. J. Grill Public Side of Representation v. 84 He grandstands more than he takes thoughtful positions on things.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1754
v.1915