Word.ws English Dictionary

staredown

staredown noun: a game or confrontation in which two individuals intently gaze at each other, until the other individual is forced to blink or turn away.

Noun

staredown (plural staredowns)

  1. (informal) A game or confrontation in which two individuals intently gaze at each other, until the other individual is forced to blink or turn away.
  2. (idiomatic) A confrontation in which each party waits for the other to yield.
    • Since then, Stephon, 31, and the Knicks have been locked in a staredown regarding the cost of a potential buyout.2009 January 26, David Waldstein, “Pursuing N.B.A., Marbury’s Brother Takes Long Detour”, in New York Times

Forms of staredown

pluralstaredowns

Origin of staredown

From stare + down.

Questions about staredown

What does staredown mean?
Staredown means a game or confrontation in which two individuals intently gaze at each other, until the other individual is forced to blink or turn away.
What part of speech is staredown?
Staredown is a noun.
What is the plural of staredown?
The plural of staredown is staredowns.

Words near staredown in the dictionary

  1. stared down
  2. stared into space
  3. stared like a stuck pig
  4. stared out
  5. stared someone in the face
  6. staredown
  7. staredowns
  8. staree
  9. starees
  10. stareful
  11. starer

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: staredown (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-staredown.wav.

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