standoff
adjEtymology Deverbal from stand off.
1
Government, Military, Politics, War For use at a distance sufficient from the target to allow defensive fire to be evaded.
- a standoff bomb, missile, or weapon
standoff
nounUK /ˈstændɒf/ · US /ˈstændɔf/
Etymology Deverbal from stand off.
1
A device which maintains a fixed distance between two objects, especially between a surface and a sign or electrical wiring.
2
A deadlocked confrontation between antagonists.
- I don't want to get involved in the standoff between those two.
- A tense standoff between demonstrators and police continued overnight.
1 more example
- In recent months, both Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice and Captain America: Civil War have offered up big, flashy superhero standoffs as feuds of ideology and stubborn will.2016 May 23, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, “Apocalypse pits the strengths of the X-Men series against the weaknesses”, in The Onion AV Club:
- Derived terms
- Mexican standoff, porcelain standoff insulator, standoffish, standoff markup, standoff missile, standoff weapon