From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishwithstandwith‧stand /wɪðˈstænd, wɪθ-/ ●○○ verb (past tense and past participle withstood /-ˈstʊd/) [transitive] 1 STAND/BEARto be strong enough to remain unharmed by something such as great heat, cold, pressure etc SYN resist, stand up to This fabric can withstand steam and high temperatures.2 DEFENDto defend yourself successfully against people who attack, criticize, or oppose you SYN stand up to The Chancellor has withstood the criticism and held firm.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
withstand• The bridge is built to withstand an earthquake of 8.3 magnitude.• Rear-facing safety seats can not withstand deployment of an airbag, the agency said.• Working copy: not likely to withstand further toil.• The plant is sensitive to alkaline conditions and prefers cool waters but temporarily withstands higher temperatures.• An epidemic of such proportions that nothing could withstand it.• It can withstand knocks, is low-odour and quick-drying.• Owens has withstood many attacks on his leadership.• Lind also installed carpeting that could withstand the impact of the wheels.• It must also be robust enough to withstand the wear and tear of the postal system and the editor's desk.• They might dislike what he did but could not withstand what he was as a result of doing it.Origin withstand Old English withstandan, from with “against” + standan “to stand” 