Stand down Definition 1 of 3Pro Tip 1/3Voluntary Withdrawal Indicates a person is willingly giving up their role, usually out of personal choice. After much thought, he chose to stand down from the committee. Pro Tip 2/3Empowering Successor Used when someone steps aside to allow another individual to take over responsibilities. She will stand down to let a younger member lead the project. Pro Tip 3/3Not Forced Out Unlike 'fired' or 'ousted,' it often implies a lack of external pressure to resign. The CEO decided to stand down at the peak of his career.