stand for

express indirectly by an image, form, or model; be a symbol; "What does the Statue of Liberty symbolize?"

denote or connote; "`maison' means `house' in French"; "An example sentence would show what this word means"

take the place of or be parallel or equivalent to; "Because of the sound changes in the course of history, an 'h' in Greek stands for an 's' in Latin"

tolerate or bear; "I won't stand for this kind of behavior!"