"stand down" meaning in English

See stand down in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: En-au-stand down.ogg Forms: stands down [present, singular, third-person], standing down [participle, present], stood down [participle, past], stood down [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|<,,stood>}} stand down (third-person singular simple present stands down, present participle standing down, simple past and past participle stood down)
  1. (idiomatic) To wait; to stop pursuing, stop fighting, or relax from a heightened readiness posture. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-stand_down-en-verb-Ms230Jkz
  2. (ambitransitive) To withdraw or retire from a position or from a team. Tags: ambitransitive Synonyms: resign, stand aside, step down
    Sense id: en-stand_down-en-verb-tzBW8Bt3 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English phrasal verbs formed with "down", Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 38 62 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs formed with "down": 34 66 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 36 64 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 25 75

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "stands down",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "standing down",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stood down",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stood down",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "<,,stood>"
      },
      "expansion": "stand down (third-person singular simple present stands down, present participle standing down, simple past and past participle stood down)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "square off"
        },
        {
          "word": "square up"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              27,
              37
            ]
          ],
          "text": "They ordered the troops to stand down for the moment.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To wait; to stop pursuing, stop fighting, or relax from a heightened readiness posture."
      ],
      "id": "en-stand_down-en-verb-Ms230Jkz",
      "links": [
        [
          "wait",
          "wait"
        ],
        [
          "pursuing",
          "pursuing"
        ],
        [
          "fighting",
          "fighting"
        ],
        [
          "readiness",
          "readiness"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To wait; to stop pursuing, stop fighting, or relax from a heightened readiness posture."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "38 62",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "34 66",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs formed with \"down\"",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "36 64",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "25 75",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              69,
              79
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "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:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              69,
              79
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2023 November 29, “Last remaining DB Cargo Class 60s face final workings in December”, in RAIL, number 997, page 19:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              18,
              28
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2025 September 5, Pippa Crerar, “Angela Rayner resigns over stamp duty row”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To withdraw or retire from a position or from a team."
      ],
      "id": "en-stand_down-en-verb-tzBW8Bt3",
      "links": [
        [
          "withdraw",
          "withdraw"
        ],
        [
          "retire",
          "retire"
        ],
        [
          "position",
          "position"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(ambitransitive) To withdraw or retire from a position or from a team."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "resign"
        },
        {
          "word": "stand aside"
        },
        {
          "word": "step down"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "ambitransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-stand down.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2c/En-au-stand_down.ogg/En-au-stand_down.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/En-au-stand_down.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "stand down"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English phrasal verbs",
    "English phrasal verbs formed with \"down\"",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "stands down",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "standing down",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stood down",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stood down",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "<,,stood>"
      },
      "expansion": "stand down (third-person singular simple present stands down, present participle standing down, simple past and past participle stood down)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "square off"
        },
        {
          "word": "square up"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              27,
              37
            ]
          ],
          "text": "They ordered the troops to stand down for the moment.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To wait; to stop pursuing, stop fighting, or relax from a heightened readiness posture."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "wait",
          "wait"
        ],
        [
          "pursuing",
          "pursuing"
        ],
        [
          "fighting",
          "fighting"
        ],
        [
          "readiness",
          "readiness"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To wait; to stop pursuing, stop fighting, or relax from a heightened readiness posture."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              69,
              79
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "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:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              69,
              79
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2023 November 29, “Last remaining DB Cargo Class 60s face final workings in December”, in RAIL, number 997, page 19:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              18,
              28
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2025 September 5, Pippa Crerar, “Angela Rayner resigns over stamp duty row”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To withdraw or retire from a position or from a team."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "withdraw",
          "withdraw"
        ],
        [
          "retire",
          "retire"
        ],
        [
          "position",
          "position"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(ambitransitive) To withdraw or retire from a position or from a team."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "resign"
        },
        {
          "word": "stand aside"
        },
        {
          "word": "step down"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "ambitransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-stand down.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2c/En-au-stand_down.ogg/En-au-stand_down.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/En-au-stand_down.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "stand down"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-03-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-03-03 using wiktextract (05c257f and 9d9a410). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.