stand-down
or stand·down
Military. a temporary cessation of offensive actions; cease-fire; truce: a stand-down for the Christmas holidays.
a work stoppage or layoff.
Origin of stand-down
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use stand-down in a sentence
The safety of American personnel at the American consulate in Libya was undermined by a “stand down order.”
Congress Debunks Congress’s Nuttiest Benghazi Theories | Ben Jacobs | November 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTCentral to the Benghazi conspiracy: the alleged stand-down order that kept help from arriving from Tripoli.
Did the commander in chief ask military assets to stand down?
The men were initially going to be deployed to the area, and were then told to “stand down,” they said.
Rescue Efforts Were Delayed Following Deadly Landslide in Washington | Stacey Solie | March 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWhat are they doing to achieve an immediate military stand down?
At this very unexpected reply the spectators tittered, and Mr. Sergeant Buzfuz said curtly, "Stand down, sir."
The World's Greatest Books, Vol III | Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton, Eds.Tell me, Jack, will you be apt to get any further lines on the way things stand down here?
Eagles of the Sky | Ambrose NewcombBut I'd hardly begun when I was ordered to stand down as a liar as well as a thief.
A formal verdict having been entered, the judge ordered the prisoner to stand down, postponing sentence.
Oscar Wilde, Volume 1 (of 2) | Frank Harris"We have done with you; you can stand down," replied Mr. Keir, in mortification and disgust.
The Lost Lady of Lone | E.D.E.N. Southworth
British Dictionary definitions for stand down
(intr) to resign or withdraw, esp in favour of another
(intr) to leave the witness box in a court of law after giving evidence
mainly British to go or be taken off duty
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with stand-down
Leave a witness stand, as in The judge told her to stand down. [Late 1600s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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