A rare or archaic term possibly meaning to resist, oppose, or stand against something.
A compound of 'gain-' (meaning 'against' from Old Norse) and 'stand,' creating a verb meaning 'to stand against.' This appears to be an extremely rare or dialectal formation from Middle English.
Gainstand is constructed like 'withstand'—both are compounds meaning 'to stand against' something—but gainstand is so rare that 'withstand' completely replaced it! It's interesting how similar compound constructions can compete, and one wins out.
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