Meaning & use
standing room
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Meanings
noununcountable
Space in a theater, bus or hall where people can stand because all the seats are taken.
Grammar: Uncountable, so no a: there was only standing room left.
Patterns
- only standing room
- standing room at something
By the time we arrived, there was only standing room at the back of the hall.
The cheap tickets give you standing room near the stage.
The train was so full that standing room was hard to find.
phrasefixed phrase
Standing room only: a notice or description meaning every seat is occupied and the remaining visitors must stand.
Grammar: Almost always used as the whole phrase: standing room only.
Patterns
- it was standing room only
- standing room only at something
The concert was standing room only by seven o'clock.
It was standing room only at the mayor's speech.
The cinema posted a sign saying standing room only.
Common combinations
- standing room only
- The lecture hall was standing room only.
- find standing room
- We managed to find standing room near the door.
- buy standing room tickets
- Students can buy standing room tickets for the opera.
- cheap standing room
- Cheap standing room is sold on the day of the show.
- limited standing room
- There is limited standing room at the back.
Synonyms and how they differ
- packed
- Packed describes a place full of people, but does not say whether anyone has a seat.
- full house
- A full house means every seat has been sold, while standing room refers to the space left for those without seats.
- capacity crowd
- A capacity crowd means the venue is full to its limit, which is a general description rather than a space for standing.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: standing room or sold out?
standing room vs sold out
Sold out means no tickets remain, but standing room tickets may still be available, so the two are not the same.
Practice
The show had been sold for weeks, and all that remained was ___ at the back.
Choose one answer.
Standing room is space to stand when seats are gone, matching the sold-out show. Legroom concerns space for the legs of seated people, and the others are not standard expressions.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “standing room”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.