Stand
Stand turns up in 2 fields: tides, forestry. Here is what it means to the people in each one.
Stand in tides
The pause at the top or bottom of the tide, when the level hangs nearly still before turning.
The lull at high or low water before the level turns, when a gauge trace runs almost flat. Its length depends on the shape of the tide curve: some ports have a long high water stand or even a second high, which pilots value for moving deep-draught ships. Stand describes height; the matching still period in the current is slack water, and the two often happen at different times.
"We get a good hour of stand at high water here, plenty of time to swing the barge in."
Stand in forestry
A contiguous group of trees uniform enough to be managed as a single unit.
A specific area of forest consisting of trees that share a similar age, species composition, structure, and site quality. Foresters use this as the fundamental unit for mapping, inventory, and silvicultural prescriptions. A stand is visually distinct from the adjacent forest and is treated as one block during harvesting or thinning operations.
"We need to cruise the pine stand on the north ridge to see if it's ready for a first thinning."