stand at attention

English

Alternative forms

stand to attention

Verb

stand at attention (third-person singular simple present stands at attention, present participle standing at attention, simple past and past participle stood at attention)

(military) To stand straight with eyes forward and feet together.
- 1941, George Orwell, The Lion and the Unicorn:
  It is a strange fact, but it is unquestionably true that almost any English intellectual would feel more ashamed of standing to attention during “God save the King” than of stealing from a poor box.

Translations

Finnish: seisoa asennossa
French: garde à vous (fr)

References

“stand at attention”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
“stand at attention”, in Collins English Dictionary.
“stand to at attention” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.