ˈstand-in
[f. vbl. phr. to stand in: see stand v. 95.]
† 1. A friendly or profitable understanding (with another), esp. a corrupt arrangement or ‘put-up job’. U.S. colloq. Obs.
| 1870 Food Jrnl. 1 Nov. 523 The affair is settled amicably by a ‘stand in’, which means that the purchaser shall pay the other, or others, a certain sum not to bid against him. 1908 K. McGaffey Sorrows of Show Girl 89 My heart went out to him the minute he said he had a stand in with three city editors. 1926 J. Black You can't Win iv. 41 The whole thing was a stand-in from the captain down. Everybody's satisfied. The sucker has his money, the girls are all out. |
2. a. Cinemat. One who substitutes for a principal film actor while the cameras and lighting for a scene are set. Formerly, stand-in man. Chiefly U.S.
| 1928 N.Y. Times 11 Mar. viii. 6/2 Stand-in men, substitute for the star used by the director while camera⁓men and electricians are testing the lights on a scene. 1935 Evening Sun (Baltimore) 21 May 16/2 Dorothy Granger, actress, and George Lollier, actor and ‘stand-in’ for Richard Dix, had a June wedding last year. 1937 Daily Mirror 16 Mar. 2/1 Frances is often described as Glenda's double, but ‘I'm a good head taller,’ she told me. ‘Being a ‘stand-in’ does not necessarily mean that you must be exactly alike.’ 1948 ‘N. Shute’ No Highway iv. 92 In Hollywood beauties were two a penny, and it was years before she got an inkling what it was that differentiated her from all the stand-ins and walkers-on. 1958 People 4 May 15/4 He won't use a stand-in for any of his roles. 1976 M. Maguire Scratchproof ii. 22 The stand-ins were called for. The shot was lined up. |
b. gen. One who fills the place of or substitutes for another. Also transf.
| 1937 D. Runyon in Collier's 21 Aug. 32/1 Nobody cares much about this idea of a stand-in for Nicely-Nicely..and many citizens are in favor of pulling out of the contest altogether. 1940 Punch 7 Feb. 156/1 Easily bored by the polite functions that not even dictators can wholly avoid..the German ruler has made..use of the ‘stand-in’ since he came to power. 1952 Sun (Baltimore) 19 Apr. (B ed.) 3/3 An absorbable gelatin sponge..may serve..as a stand-in for the liver when it becomes necessary to remove part of that organ. 1958 S. Ellin Eighth Circle (1959) ii. i. 32 His arrest was a fake; he was just a stand-in for the real culprit. 1968 T. Stoppard Real Inspector Hound (1970) 11 An army of assistants and deputies, the seconds-in-command, the runners-up, the right-hand men..stand-ins of the world stand up! 1981 ‘A. Hall’ Pekin Target v. 45 A decoy, a scapegoat, a stand-in for us at the show trial. |
c. attrib.
| 1938 N.Y. Times 28 Dec. 11/1 ‘Stand-in’ ruse jails 3... Policy game collectors, with previous convictions on which they might receive long jail terms, were using ‘stand-ins’ to receive new sentences for them. 1958 Engineering 11 Apr. 457/3 Preliminary experiments were made on ‘stand-in’ compounds, which it was hoped would simulate the behaviour of plutonium compounds in reduction to the element. 1976 Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 15 Nov. 15/4 Stand-in goalkeeper, Les Northrop, stood between Tonbridge and a hammering at the hands of unbeaten Salisbury. |