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Mexican standoff

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Mexican standoff

Where it comes from

First use appears c. 1876 in the US. Three-way gun standoffs, popularized in spaghetti westerns such as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966), have come to be called Mexican standoffs, though this usage appears to date to the 1990s, notably in reference to Reservoir Dogs (1992); earlier usage refers to this as a three-way standoff or triangular standoff.

noun Mexican standoffs

  1. slang A stalemate, or a confrontation among two or more sides that no side can win. “Go-!” said he sternly then. “We will call it a stand-off, a Mexican stand-off, you lose your money, but you save your life!”
  2. slang An inconclusive standoff, ending in mutual retreat.
  3. slang A confrontation among two or more armed parties, none of which wants to attack first (fearing that the other could retaliate), but neither of which will disarm (for fear the other will attack). “Either way you want it,” says Babbs, grinning in the most frightening manner now, like the next step is eight karate chops to the gizzards and giblets. Suddenly it is a Mexican standoff—with both sides glaring but nobody swinging a punch yet.
  4. slang A three-way or more standoff. Looks like we got us a Mexican Standoff.
  5. slang A pot that is split among the players because of a tie.
  6. A near-collision between two trains; an averted cornfield meet.

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MLA

"Mexican standoff." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mexican%20standoff. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

Mexican standoff. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mexican%20standoff

Chicago

"Mexican standoff." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mexican%20standoff.

BibTeX
@misc{mexican_standoff_2026,
  title = {Mexican standoff},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mexican%20standoff},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}