Where does “standoff” come from?
Standoff is a compound of stand and off, both Old English words meaning "to remain upright" and "away from," respectively, with the noun sense of a deadlock or tie developing by the 19th century.
standoff (English): A device which maintains a fixed distance between...
Definitions
- A device which maintains a fixed distance between...
Ancestry of “standoff”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | stand off | To stand some distance apart from something or... |