action stations

Meanings

1. 1nounpluralmilitary

   An order to the crew of a ship or the troops in a unit to go immediately to their battle positions.

   Grammar: Always plural and often used without an article: action stations!

   Patterns

   • sound action stations
   • go to action stations

   The captain ordered action stations when the enemy ship appeared.

   Alarms rang and the crew ran to action stations.

   The sailors had trained for hours on how to reach action stations.

2. 2phrasefixed phraseinformalBritishhumorous

   Used in ordinary speech as a lively way of telling people to get ready quickly for something urgent or busy.

   Grammar: Said as an exclamation, often to a family or team: action stations, everyone!

   Patterns

   • it's action stations
   • action stations, everyone

   The guests are arriving in five minutes, so it's action stations in the kitchen.

   When the baby woke up, it was action stations for the whole family.

   Action stations, team, the client has just arrived!

Common combinations

go to action stations

The crew went to action stations within seconds.

sound action stations

The officer sounded action stations at midnight.

it's action stations

It's action stations in the newsroom after the announcement.

at action stations

Everyone was at action stations before the first guest arrived.

action stations, everyone

Action stations, everyone, the inspector is here.

Synonyms and how they differ

battle stations

Battle stations is the American-flavored equivalent and is used for both literal and playful commands, while action stations sounds distinctly British.

all hands on deck

All hands on deck calls everyone to help with a task, while action stations calls them to assigned positions.

red alert

Red alert names the warning level itself, whereas action stations is the order to take positions.

stand to

Stand to is a military order to prepare for attack, while action stations is wider and can be playful.

Opposites

Word family

action noun

the doing of something, or military combat

station noun

a place where someone is assigned to be

stationed adjective

placed at a particular location

battle stations noun

the American equivalent order

Commonly confused: action stations or railway stations?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “action stations”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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