stand-down

1 of 2

noun

ˈstan(d)-ˌdau̇n 

: a relaxation of status of a military unit or force from an alert or operational posture

stand down

2 of 2

verb

stood down; standing down; stands down

intransitive verb

1

: to leave the witness stand

2

chiefly British

a

: to go off duty

b

: to withdraw from a contest, a position of leadership, or a state of alert or readiness

transitive verb

: to remove from active duty

In December of 1944, it was judged safe to stand down the Home Guard … after four and a half years of guarding Britain against invasion.

—Anthony Bailey

Examples of stand-down in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The unraveling of the Cold War stand-down was set in motion in 2001 when President George W. Bush pulled the United States out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty; the very next day Russia responded by withdrawing from the START II treaty. —Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 12 Sep. 2024

The Marine Corps acting commandant, Eric Smith, on Monday issued a two-day stand-down to take place at some point this week for all aviation units both inside and outside of the United States, a spokesman told ABC News. —Ellie Kaufman, ABC News, 18 Sep. 2023

Verb

The orienting premise, however, should be unequivocal—that, as far as Washington and its partners are concerned, Houthi misbehavior is being made possible by Tehran—and that, as a result, Tehran holds the key to getting its Yemeni proxy to stand down. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 2 Dec. 2024

Today’s top stories (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) If Democrats want to win again, does California need to stand down? —Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 20 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1916, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1651, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1