From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishstand/serve/hold somebody in good steadstand/serve/hold somebody in good steadto be very useful to someone when needed His years of training were standing him in good stead. → stead
Examples from the Corpus
stand/serve/hold somebody in good stead• These shoes had stood him in good stead.• This habit of work, which is by now natural to me, has stood me in good stead.• But her beloved circus may have served her in better stead than regular outings to, say, the ballet.• As a small boy, I devised my own set of cartoon animals, and they now stood me in good stead.• Despite his lack of political experience, Clouthier's 20-year leadership of business organisations stood him in good stead.• Now we had moved on to bigger and better things, this predictability still stood us in good stead.• Those contacts, he says, still serve him in good stead today.• Insomnia would stand him in good stead in this expanse of knee-high cover. 