stand off

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stand off

verb stands off · standing off · stood off

To stand some distance apart from something or someone. He stood off from the fire, for fear of getting scorched.
US To prevent any would-be attacker from coming close by adopting an offensive posture. We took hold of anything that might serve as a weapon to stand off the menacing group of young men.
dated To move away from shore. Here were ſome marks of the ſavages along the ſhore ; for the ſhip ſtood off and on a good way down ; but no drift-wood, beaſts or fiſh were found, nor any thing uſeful except a few fowls, one of which they shot.

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{stand_off_2026,
  title = {stand off},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/stand%20off},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}