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Difference between Stick up for someone and Stick up to someone

stick up for someone—(coll.) take the part of smb.; defend a person (also: stand up for someone):

  • I stuck up for him and said I had always found him to be honest.

stick up to someone—(coll.) meet an opponent with courage; resist a person (also: stand up to someone):

  • If there is no one who dare stick up to him, he soon becomes intolerable.