stand-down

American

[stand-doun] / ˈstændˌdaʊn /

Or standdown

noun

Military. a temporary cessation of offensive actions; cease-fire; truce.

a stand-down for the Christmas holidays.
a work stoppage or layoff.

stand down British

verb

(intr) to resign or withdraw, esp in favour of another
(intr) to leave the witness box in a court of law after giving evidence
to go or be taken off duty

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

stand down Idioms

Leave a witness stand, as in The judge told her to stand down . [Late 1600s]
Withdraw, as from a political contest or a game or race, as in Harry decided to stand down as a candidate for mayor . [Late 1800s]
Go off duty, as in The American forces were ordered to stand down . [Early 1900s]

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

stand-downs

plural

Etymology

Origin of stand-down

First recorded in 1920–25; noun use of verb phrase stand down

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

stand-down stand down stand-downs

They include 'smart' gumshields that measure the forces players heads withstand in a tackle, pitchside doctors, mandatory assessments and stand-down periods for players diagnosed with having had a concussion.

From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2026

The boats were rejecting commands and were unable to reliably maneuver away from other traffic, prompting a safety stand-down, according to people familiar with the exercise.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025

President Bill Clinton helped mediate a stand-down, then signed the U.S.–China Military Maritime Consultative Agreement, which established a forum to discuss these sorts of disputes, while also reviving a U.S. military treaty with the Philippines.

From Slate ● Oct. 4, 2023

“During this stand-down, we will focus on safety and training protocols to ensure our pilots and crews have the knowledge, training and awareness to safely complete their assigned mission.”

From New York Times ● Apr. 28, 2023

During the first full day of Alpha’s stand-down, I didn’t run into Bobby Jorgenson once.

From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien

Microsoft’s in-house lawyers looked at her like she was crazy when she told them it was better to stand down than make a closing because she could see they were winning.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Unionist parties and the Orange Order have called for the commission to stand down, but Prof Collins said they intend to stay in post.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

Anas Sarwar triggered the contest last month after he announced his intention to stand down as both Scottish leader and MSP to join Andy Burnham's government.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Jon Lacey, the county's chief fire officer, said the decision to stand down the major incident reflected the "significant progress made by our crews and everyone who has supported this response".

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

“Listen, mouse, you can’t stand down there shouting up at me. Why not come into my lair, er, nest. Then we can chat together in comfort.”

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

I was in the armed forces when we had some very significant stand-downs.

From Slate ● Feb. 26, 2021

The Pentagon did not define whether stand-downs pausing regular activity across the U.S. military might last minutes or hours, or what commanders would do during that time to express opposition to extremism.

From Reuters ● Feb. 3, 2021

He said a decision by the Tasmanian government on Thursday morning, to force visitors to the island from the mainland to go through 14 days of quarantine, meant more stand-downs.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 18, 2020

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023