standoff

[stand-awf, -of] /ˈstændˌɔf, -ˌɒf/
noun
1.
a standing off or apart; aloofness.
2.
a tie or draw, as in a game.
3.
something that counterbalances.
4.
a prop for holding the top of a ladder away from the vertical surface against which it is leaning.
5.
Electricity. an insulator that supports a conductor above a surface.
adjective
6.
standing off or apart; aloof; reserved:
an uncordial and standoff manner.
Also, stand-off.
Origin
1830-40; noun, adj. use of verb phrase stand off
Examples from the web for standoff
  • Across town, a known felon barricades himself inside his house, resulting in a tense standoff for hours.
  • After a tense standoff, all ten pirates surrendered.
  • Residents surrounded the dozens of police in a polite standoff, offering tea and water but keeping them away from the work site.
  • We are left with a standoff, with no neat resolution in sight.
  • If researchers look to the great artists of the past for answers, a standoff is inevitable.
  • Either way you end up with a standoff between the host and the virus.
  • The effect of such works is a tantalizing standoff, in the brain, between looking and reading.
  • T he standoff had another, more profound implication.
  • The following afternoon the dailies session was jammed, for word had spread about our standoff.
  • Even more worth probing, in my view, is what the standoff says about the mentality of her opposition.
British Dictionary definitions for standoff

standoff

/ˈstændˌɒf/
noun
1.
(US & Canadian) the act or an instance of standing off or apart
2.
a deadlock or stalemate
3.
any situation or disposition of forces that counterbalances or neutralizes
4.
(rugby) short for stand-off half
verb (adverb)
5.
(intransitive) to navigate a vessel so as to avoid the shore, an obstruction, etc
6.
(transitive) to keep or cause to keep at a distance
7.
(intransitive) to reach a deadlock or stalemate
8.
(transitive) to dismiss (workers), esp temporarily
Slang definitions & phrases for standoff

standoff

noun

A balanced and static conflict; stalemate; deadlock: The union and the company are locked in a standoff (1843+)

Related Terms

mexican standoff