take the stand

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take the stand (third-person singular simple present takes the stand, present participle taking the stand, simple past took the stand, past participle taken the stand)

1. (idiomatic) To testify as a witness in a trial.

   The press speculated about whether he would take the stand and testify in his defense.

   • 1912, Arthur Cheney Train, “Tricks of the Trade”, in Courts and Criminals‎:

     At the conclusion of the case, the defendant not having dared to take the stand, the lawyer arose to address the jury in behalf of what appeared a hopeless cause.