Meaning

5 senses
  1. (countable, uncountable)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.

    Bereitschaft

    гото́вностьgotóvnostʹ, состоя́ние гото́вностиsostojánije gotóvnosti

  2. (countable, uncountable)A replacement kept on standby.

  3. (countable, uncountable)Sleep mode.

  4. (countable, uncountable)Waiting at the airport in the hope of getting a seat on a flight that is already booked out.

    ожиданиеožidanije

  5. (countable, uncountable)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.

    verlässliche und bewährte Sache

More definitions
  • something that can be relied on when needed
  • an actor able to replace a regular performer when required

Examples

6 sentences
  1. I'm on standby.

  2. Just my old standby: lemon chicken.

    deNur mein bewährtes Standardgericht: Zitronenhuhn. — Tamy

  3. Sami chose to wait in a standby list.

  4. The fire department is on standby day and night.

  5. National rescue teams are on standby ready to fly to Japan.

Translations

4 languages
Русский
By meaning 2
state of readiness without immediate involvement:
waiting at the airport in the hope of getting a seat on a flight that is already booked out:
Deutsch
By meaning 2
state of readiness without immediate involvement:
something that is standard, well-tested, or frequently used:

Origin

Deverbal from stand by.

Deverbal from stand by.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: standbys
Singularstandby
Pluralstandbys

irregular

Synonyms

2 synonyms
Close in meaning
  • an actor able to replace a regular performer when required:understudy

Word family

3 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
standby — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto