Definition of "stand fast" [stand fast]

• Refuse to abandon one's opinion or belief (verb)

WordNet. Princeton University. 2010.

• "She exhorted the church of Carthage to stand fast and firm during the Decian persecution, [328] and at a subsequent period conferred with it upon its mode of dealing with apostates."
• "I do not say that this fatal consequence of the introduction of humanly-devised set forms of prayer in the worship of the church, in the horrible abuse made of it, is sufficient to condemn them as absolutely unlawful; for where the opinions leading unto such idolatrous practices are openly rejected and condemned, as was before intimated, there all the causes, means, and occasions of that idolatry may be taken out of them and separated from them, as it is in the liturgies of the reformed churches, whether imposed or left free; -- but it is sufficient to lay in the balance against that veneration which their general observance in many ages may invite or procure; and it is so also to warrant the disciples of Christ to stand fast in the liberty wherewith he hath made them free."
• "Not surprisingly, there are activists who insist that Democratic senators stand fast against any Republican initiative these days-even those initiatives that have some merit-as a matter of principle."