stand on someone's shoulders
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Build upon someone's work or discoveries
Literally: physical image of standing on someone's shoulders
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The scientist stood on Newton's shoulders to develop her theory
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “stand on someone's shoulders” mean?
Build upon someone's work or discoveries Literally: physical image of standing on someone's shoulders
Is “stand on someone's shoulders” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.