stand in for

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Perhaps, I suggest, Mescal could stand in for McCartney on his next tour.

From BBC • May 27, 2026

This allowed closely related groups to stand in for species that were not directly included.

From Science Daily • May 2, 2026

We’re tapping digital buttons that now stand in for physical buttons that once stood in for a mechanical method for interacting with a complex system.

From Slate • Apr. 4, 2026

Mottled green daubs represent grass; lounging amoebic growths stand in for rocks, perhaps mountain peaks.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

It can stand in for anything—a stuffed piranha, existentialism, the Monroe Doctrine, or buttered toast.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner