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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Toronto missed on stars like Shohei Ohtani, who the Blue Jays defeated on the mound in Game 4, several winters in a row.—
Tim Crowley,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
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While that might not seem like a ton of bats, the team calculated that even a small rat colony (roughly 15 rats) could kill upwards of seven percent of the roughly 30,000 bats that spend their winters in Segeberg.—
Sarah Durn,
Popular Science,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
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One of three people who hadn’t been laid off have offered, given or lent money to someone negatively affected by layoffs or the current economic climate, according to a 2023 Quicken survey of 865 adults.—
Medora Lee,
USA Today,
31 Oct. 2025
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The cancellation comes on the heels of the Paramount-Skydance merger, MTV’s parent, which has resulted in thousands of layoffs companywide.—
Denise Petski,
Deadline,
31 Oct. 2025
Noun
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During grooming, the dog is continuously monitored, with breaks, treats, and positive reinforcement used to keep the experience stress-free.—
Alice Gibbs,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
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In the end, Rosalía breaks free, transforming into a dove that takes flight.—
Luisa Calle,
Billboard,
31 Oct. 2025
Noun
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That led to a couple of scoring lulls, especially in the first half.—
Shreyas Laddha,
Kansas City Star,
25 Oct. 2025
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For instance, why did the offense experience so many extended lulls against opposing bullpens (even as, in another contradiction, its overall performance against bullpens was in line with 2024)?—
Will Sammon,
New York Times,
9 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The interruptions during the examination proved costly, as the NFL fined the Giants $200,000, Daboll $100,000, and Skattebo $15,000 for violating the league’s concussion protocol, the NFL and NFLPA announced in a joint statement Friday.—
Ryan Canfield,
FOXNews.com,
24 Oct. 2025
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The routine — which sparked some friendly interruptions at the judges' table — also earned three 10s and one 9.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Downtimes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/downtimes. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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