: a relaxation of status of a military unit or force from an alert or operational posture
stood down; standing down; stands down
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
: 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
Anthony BaileyExamples of stand-down in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebLetters 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
Colette Davidson, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Oct. 2024
Mario Tama / Getty Images file The launch came a few days later than originally planned: It had been scheduled for Thursday, but NASA was forced to stand down because of Hurricane Milton, which made landfall late Wednesday along Florida’s west coast, near Siesta Key.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 14 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for stand-down 
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 soldiers often stationed in front of a nearby school have left, stood down after an Oct. 7 anniversary alert.
—Colette Davidson, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Oct. 2024
Mario Tama / Getty Images file The launch came a few days later than originally planned: It had been scheduled for Thursday, but NASA was forced to stand down because of Hurricane Milton, which made landfall late Wednesday along Florida’s west coast, near Siesta Key.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 14 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for stand-down
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'stand-down.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Stand-down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stand-down. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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