as in winters
a period of often involuntary inactivity or idleness
a knee operation that could result in months of downtime for the ski racer
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Recent Examples of downtimes
The average response time for phone calls dropped to 6 minutes from 30 minutes in the prior fiscal year; field office wait times decreased to 23 minutes; and removal of online service downtimes has benefited an additional 125,000 users in a single week, according to the agency's findings.
—
Suzanne Blake, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Aug. 2025
Suzanne Blake, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for downtimes
Noun
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Curling, which started in Scotland but grew in popularity after being imported to Canada, where the game proved to be a perfect distraction during long, frigid winters on the plains of Alberta and Saskatchewan, has historically operated on a culture of trust and self-regulation.—
Kevin Baxter,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Feb. 2026
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In regions with harsher winters, scheduling inspections before temperatures drop can help prevent electrical failures during periods when lighting and heating are especially essential.—
Caroline Lubinsky,
Martha Stewart,
17 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Outside Washington, the classical music industry suffers the usual ups and downs, shocks and bumps, with layoffs at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and a reduced season ahead.—
Philip Kennicott,
Washington Post,
20 Feb. 2026
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In late 2024 and early 2025, following Nissan’s financial downturn that resulted in more than 9,000 global layoffs and a 20% reduction in manufacturing throughput, Nissan entered into merger negotiations with its Japanese industry counterpart.—
Stuart Dyos,
USA Today,
20 Feb. 2026
Noun
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In the Big Apple, water main breaks are a dime a dozen, especially during this time of year.—
Andrew Ramos,
CBS News,
21 Feb. 2026
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Fox quickly sold out its Daytona inventory, with more advertisers lining up to secure double-box breaks, the format that allows the network to present commercial messaging side-by-side with live racing.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
20 Feb. 2026
Noun
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There were some lulls in the second half of the season, but the Seahawks rounded into form toward the end of the regular season.—
Michael-Shawn Dugar,
New York Times,
15 Feb. 2026
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The segment was a gloriously chaotic tribute to Italy’s successes across the arts, and carried the tone even through slower lulls like a call for peace by rapper Ghali, featuring the aforementioned Theron cameo.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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That reduces interruptions during development workflows.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
19 Feb. 2026
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Damages often reflect medical needs, work interruptions, and the aftermath of the incident.—
Maria Williams,
USA Today,
17 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Downtimes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/downtimes. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
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