stancestance /stɑːns $ stæns/ ●○○ noun [countable usually singular] 
What is your stance on environmental issues?stance against a strong stance against abortiontake/adopt a stance The president has adopted a tough stance on terrorism.2a position in which you stand, especially when playing a sport: a fighting stance
WORD ORIGINstance
Origin:
1500-1600 Old French estance, from Vulgar Latin stantia, from Latin stare ‘to stand’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- His tough stance on crime appeals to voters.
- The club's golf pro gave me some pointers on my stance and swing.
- The council has taken a pro-growth, pro-business stance on development issues.
- The official stance is that the lottery money should be used for the arts and education.
- The political stance of the paper means it is unlikely to report the affair in a balanced way.
- As a result, market intelligence is limited, and has led to contradictory stances being adopted by different companies.
- But other community groups are taking a markedly different stance.
- Deng closely aligned himself with this stance.
- His head kept dipping and his wings half opening as he tried to retain his balance on his awkward stance.
- His stupid stance fills me with wild hope.
- The Dodson aunts take pride in his stance in this hour of crisis.
- The stability of a stance depends upon the distribution of the body weight.
- Why not love everyone instead of interacting from the opposite stance?
Longman Language Activatorthe official opinion of a person or group
what a government, political party, or a person has decided to be their official or public opinion: · It's important that the Socialists clarify their position before the conference.position on: · We have made our position on disarmament perfectly clear.take a position: · She takes the position that all asylum seekers should be made welcome.
the publicly stated opinion of a political party, government etc, which all their members are supposed to agree with: party/government/official etc line: · The whip's job is to persuade members of his party to support the party line on issues that come before Congress.line on: · What's his line on abortion?take a line on something: · There was pressure for the President to take a tough line on welfare issues.
the publicly stated opinion of a person, group, newspaper etc towards something, especially a political matter: · The political stance of the paper means it is unlikely to report the affair in a balanced way.· The official stance is that the lottery money should be used for the arts and education.stance on: · His tough stance on crime appeals to voters.take a stance on something: · The council has taken a pro-growth, pro-business stance on development issues.
the publicly stated opinion of a person or group, especially when previously this may not have been clear: · Voters need to know where each candidate stands.where sb stands on: · Where do the Democrats stand on the issue of sanctions?
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY a strong stance against abortion The president has adopted a tough stance on terrorism.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1an opinion that is stated publicly SYN standstance on a strong stance against abortion The president has adopted a tough stance on terrorism. (=a straight body position)· He appears big because of his powerful shoulders and upright posture.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· His eyes had immediately darkened, and his entire body had taken on an aggressive stance.· It's longer and wider than its predecessor, but it sits lower for a more hunched, aggressive stance.· The victims of their aggressive stance are their children.· The publican's aggressive stance towards the headmistress touched on deeper currents which were becoming condensed in the affair.
· It is therefore extremely important that the basic stances be thoroughly understood and properly practised.· New students are taught foot patterns from the basic horse stance.· Once a certain level of proficiency has been reached, the karate student starts to learn stances beyond the basic stance.· The basic stance is derived from a person walking and places emphasis upon naturalness.
· The conservative stance then crumbles from within.· But this does not mean that it takes the conservative stance of necessarily accepting existing definitions of crime.· With its emphasis on order and stability, consensus and integration, functionalism appears to adopt a conservative stance.
· There is a kind of miracle about the birth of any tiny baby which makes us suspend our critical stance.· Implicit in this admission, however, is the possibility of a more critical stance, and this was not long forthcoming.
· In the rest of the Community many different policy stances are evident.· But other community groups are taking a markedly different stance.· Barton only lasted one day in the new spot, with its slightly different stance, before the knee began bothering him.
· The attacker moves forward in a left fighting stance with a front kick off the right leg to the groin area.· It is usually performed from a fighting stance and is most useful against attacks from more than one opponent.· Begin from a fighting stance, perhaps by throwing a light snap punch into the opponent's face from the front hand.· She assumed a fighting stance, but couldn't remain balanced.· From a forward fighting stance, the student swings his rear leg forward and upward until the knee comes to shoulder height.· Both fighters have to be in left fighting stances, at the correct range, for it to be applied correctly.· Your opponent takes up a left fighting stance, that is with the left leg leading.· Begin from a fighting stance by thrusting forwards with the back foot and sliding a short distance with the front.
· Republican presidential hopefuls have all claimed that they would take a firmer stance towards Moscow.
· He would find somewhere high to take stance and think.· An awkward bulge must be overcome to reach an easier corner, and a little higher a tiny stance.· Through constant research Tani developed faster kicks and higher stances.· The higher stances afforded practitioners greater mobility and speedier delivery of techniques.· As he peers down the gun barrel with his high, unorthodox stance, he visualises former glories.
· The attacker moves forward in a left fighting stance with a front kick off the right leg to the groin area.· Both fighters have to be in left fighting stances, at the correct range, for it to be applied correctly.· Your opponent takes up a left fighting stance, that is with the left leg leading.
· It would appear that in this moral stance they were backed by public opinion.· Because it took a moral stance?· This is not in any way to imply any moral or ethical stance on our part.
· Mostly the understeer is mild but, in the dry at least, it seldom gives way to a genuinely neutral stance.· Many therapists took a neutral stance on the issue rather than trying to save marriages.· A neutral stance in relation to moral and spiritual development of pupils is not acceptable to the Catholic community especially in the Catholic school.
· The word political is somewhat unsuitable in the circumstances, since my own political stance has always been a pragmatic one.· Clinton was forced to withdraw several nominees due to embarrassing revelations over their political stances or child-care issues.· By this time, of course, Mwafrika and its successors had long since lost their former political stance.· The political stance of the working class will rely heavily on the nature, size and development of the labour movement.· Nizan's political stance at this juncture was a curious mixture of uncompromising denunciation and sweet-talking collaboration.· In this sense an academic discipline has been built up with an explicitly political stance.
· The religions which are burgeoning around the world are the ones taking positive, proactive stances.· This interpretation would yield a coherent, uniformly positive stance of Paul regarding women in the church.· Ultimately taking a positive stance, it also shows concern for abuse and misuse.· Clearly, this kind of legislation reflects a more positive stance towards older workers and their role in the labour market.
· Others suspected the truth: that Hitler's public stance did not represent his real feelings on the issue.· Irvin, consistent with his usual public stance, was unrepentant.· The pope, politicians and intellectuals have taken a public stance on the issue.
· However, nearly all funboard technique problems can be traced back to deficiencies in the strong wind stance.· Patrick Buchanan has criticized Dole for not taking a stronger stance against abortion.· The Mutawas offered the father moral support in his strong stance and showered him with accolades for his religious conviction.· Having come to power that year, she was advocating a strong stance in the face of the Soviet arms build-up.
· It also had a tougher, pro-Trident stance on defence.· The message arrived at a particularly delicate time, with the Fox administration striving for a tough new stance against criminal organizations.· Their tough stance followed talks at Camp David in which Mr Bush agreed to delay action until the new year.· That piercing gaze threatened immediate reprisal, the tough, unyielding stance of his hard body blocked her path and intimidated her.
· Chained in an upright stance for weeks on end, iron collars about their necks, with no hope of reprieve.· The upper edge of the shoulder pocket overhung the lower edge, more appropriate for an upright stance.· Wings rather short and narrow, legs set well back, giving upright stance at rest.· It dropped fast, keeping its upright stance at first, than turning as if emptying itself, and the men fell out.
NOUN· In the rest of the Community many different policy stances are evident.
VERB· He was both eager to adopt the right stance and unnerved by the strangeness of it.· A federal trial judge in New York adopted that stance in this case.· Clinton consistently supported women's right to abortion at a time when Bush adopted an anti-abortion stance.· Both poets adopt a stance of resignation in struggles with their employers.· But Schro der's leftwing government adopted a less rigid stance on foreign currency.· Until quite recently the socio-cultural anthropologists have adopted a very similar stance.· The secret of playing these shots is to adopt the stance you are comfortable with.· Now place yourself inside the regulationist framework, that is, adopt the stance of a regulationist in relation to the other two theories.
· Graveney thinks that this figure could be easily be nearer 80 if he were to change his stance.· I have therefore decided that we should not change our stance on this matter.
· He no longer maintained the stance he had advanced to me on the telephone.
· Eventually, he softens his stance, even giving his students $ 5 each time they answer a question correctly.· He called on the senator to soften her get-tough stance on immigrants living in the United States.
· In recent months, a number of federal judges have taken such a stance.· Many therapists took a neutral stance on the issue rather than trying to save marriages.· They reached the tree where the eagle had taken stance and looked up.· Because it took a moral stance?· He took another such stance a year later when he preached in the Roman CatholicWestminster cathedral.· His eyes had immediately darkened, and his entire body had taken on an aggressive stance.· In 1792 he was taking an anti-monarchist stance, whilst in 1793 he was not.· Ultimately taking a positive stance, it also shows concern for abuse and misuse.
What is your stance on environmental issues?stance against a strong stance against abortiontake/adopt a stance The president has adopted a tough stance on terrorism.2a position in which you stand, especially when playing a sport: a fighting stance