▪ I. stan
obs. and dial. form of stand n. and v.; obs. var. stone n. and v. and stend n. (dial.).
▪ II. stan, n.
Brit. /stæn/, /stɑːn/, U.S. /stæn/
Forms: 19– 'stan, 19– stan [Also with capital initial.]
[‹ -stan (in the names of various (especially Central Asian) countries, as e.g. Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, etc.).]
A country with a name ending in -stan; a central Asian country, esp. a republic which was formerly part of the Soviet Union.
| 1932 Times 7 Sept. 13/6 When all the land in the Stans is collectivized in cotton plantations, say the Soviet governors, then the wheat, meat and vegetables are to come over from the Ukraine, Siberia, and the Caucasus. 1987 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 13 Aug. ii. 8/1 We don't want it going to Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan or any other 'stan. 1993 A. J. Motyl Dilemmas of Independence 187 Ignoring Ukraine, Belarus, the ‘Stans’, and Central Europe is as wrong an answer to the problems of the former Soviet empire as there can be. 2001 Time 8 Oct. 56/2 For centuries, central Asia—the part of the world known as the 'stans—has been part of Russia's sphere of influence. |