stands down

Verb

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.
   • They ordered the troops to stand down for the moment.

   Antonyms:

   square off, square up

2. (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.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

   Synonyms:

   resign, stand aside, step down