standdown

7.2

A short time when military or emergency activity stops so people can rest and get supplies

noun
/ˈstændˌdaʊn/

Jargon

: pausa

During the standdown, soldiers were allowed to rest.

Examples

The military announced a standdown for all troops.
After the intense fighting, both sides agreed to a standdown to allow humanitarian aid to reach civilians.
Following the standdown, troops were able to rest and resupply before the next phase of operations.
The general ordered a standdown until further instructions from headquarters.
The military has announced a standdown to allow troops to rest after weeks of intense training.
During the standdown, emergency services were instructed to relax their readiness levels.
After the recent crisis, the government declared a standdown to assess the situation and strategize.

Synonyms

shutdown

vsstanddown

136 4.1

A time when a business, system, or service stops working

is a temporary military or emergency pause of operations and alertness

stand-down

vsstanddown

Jargon

4 6.3

A temporary pause in military activity to let troops rest and stop being on alert

is the same meaning but written without a hyphen

Antonyms

alert

137 3.5

A state of being ready and watchful for possible danger

How Alert

high alert

25 3.6

alert

137 3.5

standdown

Jargon

7.2

Surface Forms

standdown singular

standdowns plural

Morphology

standdown = stand (opaque) = down + stand

The form is built from 'stand' + 'down', but the military sense 'temporarily stop or relax operations' is a lexicalized phrasal meaning that is not predictable from the parts alone. [Postprocessing: moved 'down' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

The word standdown comes from the military command stand + down, where 'stand' means 'be ready' and 'down' means 'lower' or 'relax'. Think of soldiers being told to lower their weapons and rest — that's why a standdown is a temporary stop or relaxation of operations.