stand on one's own two feet

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

stand on one's own two feet (third-person singular simple present stands on one's own two feet, present participle standing on one's own two feet, simple past and past participle stood on one's own two feet)

1. (idiomatic) To be independent and self-sufficient; to survive without any help.

   Synonym: stand on one's own legs

   It's about time he left home and learnt how to stand on his own two feet.

   • 2023 December 22, Robyn Vinter, “‘That’s how we’ve got to live’: the black market in England’s shoplifting capital”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Tina is too proud to ask for help and would prefer to stand on her own two feet, she says.

Translations

idiomatic: to be independent

• Danish: stå på egne ben (da)
• Dutch: op eigen benen staan
• Finnish: seisoa omilla jaloillaan, tulla toimeen omillaan
• French: voler de ses propres ailes (fr)
• German: auf eigenen Beinen stehen (de)
• Indonesian: berdikari (id)
• Malay: berdikari (ms)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: stå på egne bein, stå på egne ben

  Nynorsk: stå på eigne føter

• Polish: stawać na własnych nogach impf, stanąć na własnych nogach pf
• Portuguese: caminhar com as próprias pernas
• Russian: стоя́ть на со́бственных нога́х (stojátʹ na sóbstvennyx nogáx)
• Turkish: kendi ayakları üzerinde durmak, kendi yağıyla kavrulmak (tr)
• Vietnamese: tự lập (vi)

See also

• leave home