stand-down
nounEtymology Deverbal from stand down.
1
Government, Military, Politics, War A time when soldiers are not on alert
2
A time when developers are wrapping up the day
stand down
verbalso spelled stand-down1
Idiomatic To wait; to stop pursuing, stop fighting, or relax from a heightened readiness posture.
- They ordered the troops to stand down for the moment.
2
Ambitransitive To withdraw or retire from a position or from a team.
- The criminal case was launched after the aviation giant’s subsidiary stood down a trained health and safety representative hours after he directed others to cease work.2023 November 16, “Qantas illegally stood down worker who stopped cleaning of planes at start of Covid pandemic”, in The Guardian, sourced from Australian Assocated Press, →ISSN:
- The remaining four locomotives in traffic […] are all expected to be stood down due to their high engine hours, as well as being due exams which the company is not prepared to undertake.2023 November 29, “Last remaining DB Cargo Class 60s face final workings in December”, in RAIL, number 997, page 19:
1 more example
- Angela Rayner has stood down from the government after the prime minister’s ethics adviser found she had breached the ministerial code over her underpayment of stamp duty on her £800,000 seaside flat.2025 September 5, Pippa Crerar, “Angela Rayner resigns over stamp duty row”, in The Guardian, →ISSN: