standby

• stand-by

Deverbal from stand by.

• (noun): IPA^(key): /ˈstændˌbaɪ/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (verb): IPA^(key): /ˈstænd ˈbaɪ/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

standby (countable and uncountable, plural standbys)

1. A state of readiness without immediate involvement; remaining in preparation for (a sudden or unforeseen event or situation).

   The troops were on standby in case of an attack.

2. A replacement kept on standby.
   • 1977 December 17, Harold Pickett, quoting Jim Ferguson, “New York, New York”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 24, page 6:

     During three weeks of the run, I was performing with walking pneumonia, but I had no choice other than to perform because we didn't have the budget for stand-bys.

3. (electronics) Sleep mode.
4. (travel) Waiting at the airport in the hope of getting a seat on a flight that is already booked out.
5. Something that is standard, well-tested, or frequently used.

   That recipe is an old standby, and she keeps the ingredients around in case of unexpected guests.

   • 2022 March 2, Erin Woo, Kevin Roose, “This Social Club Runs On Crypto Tokens and Vibes”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     The restaurant, Hop Louie, was a Chinatown standby for decades before closing in 2016.

   • 2022 August 29, Julia Moskin, “It’s Not Just You — Blank Street Coffee Is Suddenly Inescapable”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:

     Emerging from an Everyman Espresso shop in Park Slope, Brooklyn, last month, David Lieber, a customer, lamented what he saw as Blank Street’s targeting of a neighborhood standby.

• at the ready

• standby loan
• standby time

standby (third-person singular simple present standbys, present participle standbying, simple past and past participle standbyed)

1. (proscribed, nonstandard, operations) To wait briefly, as for additional communication by radio or telephone; alternative form of stand by.

   Standby while I check that for you.

   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:standby.

Unadapted borrowing from English standby.

standby m or f or n (indeclinable)

1. standby