: 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
Rob Wile, NBC news, 5 June 2025
The United States and China announced a 90-day stand-down in most of their punishing tariffs against each other, while a couple of reports on inflation in the United States came in better than economists expected.
—Stan Choe, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2025
Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 9 July 2025
According to the indictment, starting in 2018, Leiweke orchestrated an effort to get a rival to stand down on a bid for the arena contract in exchange for gaining subcontracts.
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for stand-down
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Noun
That's down from the 145% punitive level Trump had imposed until a handshake agreement in Geneva last month led to a mutual stand-down that also saw China reduce its duties on U.S. imports down to 10% from 125%.
—Rob Wile, NBC news, 5 June 2025
The United States and China announced a 90-day stand-down in most of their punishing tariffs against each other, while a couple of reports on inflation in the United States came in better than economists expected.
—Stan Choe, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2025
Verb
In February 2018, Leiweke allegedly struck a deal in which the competitor CEO at Legends Hospitality agreed to stand down on bidding for the project.
—Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 9 July 2025
According to the indictment, starting in 2018, Leiweke orchestrated an effort to get a rival to stand down on a bid for the arena contract in exchange for gaining subcontracts.
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for stand-down
Cite this Entry
“Stand-down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stand-down. Accessed 22 Jul. 2025.
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