: 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 WebEllie Kaufman, ABC News, 18 Sep. 2023
The decision to stand-down all aircraft also comes after two deadly Marine Corps crashes last month.
—Phil McCausland, NBC News, 18 Sep. 2023
Military officials in April ordered a 24-hour stand-down of all aviation units following two deadly mid-air helicopter collisions within 30 days.
—Matt Seyler, ABC News, 13 June 2023
In response to both incidents, the Army issued a service-wide stand-down for aviation units to complete mandatory safety training.
—Louis Casiano, Fox News, 3 May 2023
Army leadership on Friday ordered an aviation stand-down after two fatal helicopter crashes, the most recent of which killed three soldiers and injured a fourth in Alaska on Thursday.
—Phil Helsel, NBC News, 29 Apr. 2023
Army National Guard and Reserve units will have until May 31 to carry out their stand-downs.
—Luis Martinez, ABC News, 28 Apr. 2023
Clay Risen, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2024
Rowntree previously won a seat as a Labour representative in local government, for Norfolk County Council, before standing down in 2021, citing shielding responsibilities to his family during the pandemic.
—Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 7 Mar. 2024
Civil is accused of paying bribes to members of presidential security detail to either not show up to work, or to stand down on the day of the attack.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 19 Feb. 2024
Oprah Winfrey is standing down from the board of WW International, also known as WeightWatchers, and the reason why has to do with her use of weight loss medication—probably.
—Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 29 Feb. 2024
However, the lawmakers stood down when Republican leaders promised them discussions on any reforms to the program.
—Ken Tran, The Courier-Journal, 23 Feb. 2024
Shane Rose was stood down from competitions temporarily for wearing a mankini at an event in New South Wales earlier this month, throwing his participation at Paris 2024 into jeopardy.
—George Ramsay, CNN, 19 Feb. 2024
The family also called on other sailors and anyone not affiliated with the official investigation to stand down in their searches and thanked the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force and Coast Guard for their investigations.
—Sharif Paget, CNN, 26 Feb. 2024
He was ordered to stand down, and his investigation came to nothing.
—Joel Khalili, WIRED, 26 Feb. 2024
Noun
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
The decision to stand-down all aircraft also comes after two deadly Marine Corps crashes last month.
—Phil McCausland, NBC News, 18 Sep. 2023
Military officials in April ordered a 24-hour stand-down of all aviation units following two deadly mid-air helicopter collisions within 30 days.
—Matt Seyler, ABC News, 13 June 2023
In response to both incidents, the Army issued a service-wide stand-down for aviation units to complete mandatory safety training.
—Louis Casiano, Fox News, 3 May 2023
Army leadership on Friday ordered an aviation stand-down after two fatal helicopter crashes, the most recent of which killed three soldiers and injured a fourth in Alaska on Thursday.
—Phil Helsel, NBC News, 29 Apr. 2023
Army National Guard and Reserve units will have until May 31 to carry out their stand-downs.
—Luis Martinez, ABC News, 28 Apr. 2023
Verb
After the Good Friday accords mostly brought the violence in Northern Ireland to an end in 1998, Ms. Dugdale stood down as a fighter.
—Clay Risen, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2024
Rowntree previously won a seat as a Labour representative in local government, for Norfolk County Council, before standing down in 2021, citing shielding responsibilities to his family during the pandemic.
—Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 7 Mar. 2024
Civil is accused of paying bribes to members of presidential security detail to either not show up to work, or to stand down on the day of the attack.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 19 Feb. 2024
Oprah Winfrey is standing down from the board of WW International, also known as WeightWatchers, and the reason why has to do with her use of weight loss medication—probably.
—Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 29 Feb. 2024
However, the lawmakers stood down when Republican leaders promised them discussions on any reforms to the program.
—Ken Tran, The Courier-Journal, 23 Feb. 2024
Shane Rose was stood down from competitions temporarily for wearing a mankini at an event in New South Wales earlier this month, throwing his participation at Paris 2024 into jeopardy.
—George Ramsay, CNN, 19 Feb. 2024
The family also called on other sailors and anyone not affiliated with the official investigation to stand down in their searches and thanked the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force and Coast Guard for their investigations.
—Sharif Paget, CNN, 26 Feb. 2024
He was ordered to stand down, and his investigation came to nothing.
—Joel Khalili, WIRED, 26 Feb. 2024
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.
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 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share