: 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
Nick Penzenstadler, USA TODAY, 22 May 2024
Earlier this week, NASA and Boeing were forced to stand down from a launch attempt of the Starliner spacecraft due to a faulty valve that ground teams discovered just hours before liftoff.
—Passant Rabie / Gizmodo, Quartz, 13 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for stand-down 
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
Verb
From 2006-2011 agents in Arizona stood down as straw purchasers illegally bought 2,000 guns at shops, intending to use the information to track trafficking patterns and arrest the kingpins.
—Nick Penzenstadler, USA TODAY, 22 May 2024
Earlier this week, NASA and Boeing were forced to stand down from a launch attempt of the Starliner spacecraft due to a faulty valve that ground teams discovered just hours before liftoff.
—Passant Rabie / Gizmodo, Quartz, 13 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for stand-down
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.
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Cite this Entry
“Stand-down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stand-down. Accessed 6 Jun. 2024.
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