Thesaurus results for STANDOFFS

standoffs

noun

plural of standoff

as in ties

a situation in which neither participant in a contest, competition, or struggle comes out ahead of the other after two hours they had played to a 5-5 standoff

Synonyms & Similar Words

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as in halts

a point in a struggle where neither side is capable of winning or willing to give in the standoff continued for three days before the fugitive gave himself up to the authorities

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of standoffs Prosecutors failed after both standoffs to convict the Bundys, either Cliven Bundy following the Bunkerville episode or his sons after the Malheur standoff. — Andrew Graham, Sacbee.com, 9 Aug. 2026 Throughout Operation Metro Surge, tear gas was used at several standoffs across the Twin Cities metro. — Frankie McLister, CBS News, 5 Aug. 2026 As fans of the series know well by now, every episode of Outer Banks is packed to the gills with twists, turns, motorcycle chases, police standoffs, knife fights, high-stakes heists, and more. — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 29 July 2026 Over the years, the gathering has featured contract standoffs, shots directed at the league, countless years of support for coaches and coordinators, stadium posturing and always a heavy dose of optimism before a serving of orange sherbet. — Paul Dehner Jr, New York Times, 27 July 2026 Additional confrontations and standoffs also occurred in Sikkim. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 July 2026 Introduced as part of a collaboration with the University of North Carolina’s School of the Arts and Center for Design Innovation, the robo-deputy is meant to stand-in for human cops during intense standoffs. — Joe Wilkins, Futurism, 8 July 2026 But in a world increasingly defined by diplomatic standoffs, territorial wars and trade disputes, the dollar has become a geopolitical tool. — Andreas Panosyan, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026 For now, a bipartisan housing bill and the renewal of a key spy program have become casualties of those standoffs, and their fate was in limbo as Senate Republicans left for the July 4 recess. — David Sivak, The Washington Examiner, 25 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for standoffs

Noun

None less than Arsenal in the 1999 FA Cup semi-final replay after Giggs scored a goal in extra time to settle one of the greatest cup ties ever.

— Andy Mitten, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026
Notably, both Breakker and Rhodes are listed with Atlanta ties, bringing a local flavor to the event.

— Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of ties

Noun

Across 10 trials, the system achieved a 90 percent autonomous success rate with four robots and 70 percent with eight, while recovering from navigation errors and formation deadlocks without human assistance.

— Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 10 July 2026
Having killed Downey, Amos cuts one of his deadlocks and puts it in Axel’s little red book.

— Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 3 Dec. 2025

Definition of deadlocks

Noun

The second chapter intertwines misfortune and impasses.

— Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 10 June 2026
The Senate unanimously approved a resolution to withhold lawmakers’ pay during government shutdowns, aiming to encourage faster resolution of federal budget impasses after record-breaking closures.

— Joey Cappelletti, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2026

Definition of impasses

Noun

Tired of budget stalemates, deficits and continuous acrimony in the state Capitol, California voters in 2010 started taking action to temper political gridlock and loosen the grip of entrenched special interests.

— Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 17 Aug. 2026
The legislation's passage represented a rare moment of bipartisan achievement in a Congress that has been marked by obstruction and a series of stalemates.

— Kathryn Watson, CBS News, 24 June 2026

Definition of stalemates

Noun

Space Coast options to process satellites is limited, and has already faced logjams that can delay missions.

— Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Aug. 2026
At OpenAI, employees have a magic word to eliminate logjams and cut through the red tape that develops as the company gets larger.

— Alexei Oreskovic, Fortune, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of logjams

Noun

But this film’s logic lies in the edit, starting and ending with a stop-start stutter motif that jars us into this world of a small Oklahoma town, where a bluegrass band jams in a restaurant parking lot.

— Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 14 Aug. 2026
Satellite navigation can fail when an adversary jams GPS or China’s BeiDou system.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of jams

Browse Nearby Words

standoffish

standoffs

stand on

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“Standoffs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/standoffs. Accessed 19 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of standoffs

noun

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