: 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 Web
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
William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 25 Oct. 2024
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
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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
This patrol could not be accomplished without checkpoints, proteins found on the surface of immune cells that signal when the cells should attack and when to stand down.
—William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 25 Oct. 2024
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
See all Example Sentences for stand-down
Dictionary Entries Near stand-down
Cite this Entry
“Stand-down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stand-down. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.
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