stand down

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stand down

verb stands down · standing down · stood down

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.
Opposite: square off, square up
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.
Similar: resign, stand aside, step down

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MLA

"stand down." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/stand%20down. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

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

Chicago

"stand down." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/stand%20down.

BibTeX

@misc{stand_down_2026,
  title = {stand down},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/stand%20down},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}