Meaning of stand on the shoulders of giants | Babel Free

Definitions

To build on the achievements of others before one.

idiomatic, intransitive

Examples

“If I have seen further it is by standing on ye shoulders of Giants.”

“In this 200th anniversary year of our Constitution, you and I stand on the shoulders of giants—men whose words and deeds put wind in the sails of freedom.”

“"In the western scientific tradition we stand on the shoulders of giants," says Young, echoing both Torvalds and Sir Isaac Newton before him.”

“It is useful, though, to remember the conclusion of the maxim: we stand on the shoulders of giants to see better and farther than they.”

CEFR level