law and order
noun
strict control of crime and repression of violence, sometimes involving the possible restriction of civil rights.
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law and order
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law-and-order
law-and-ordernoun(modifier) favouring or advocating strong measures to suppress crime and violence
law and order
Americannoun
law-and-order
British
noun
law and order
Idioms
Etymology
Origin of law and order
First recorded in 1590–1600
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"The Department is focused on restoring law and order and keeping Americans safe."
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's office said earlier the decision had been taken over the "deteriorating law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and... from the provincial government's deliberate indifference in the war against terrorism".
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
Kennedy stressed law and order so ardently, Mr. Jentleson relates, that Richard Nixon complained that people thought “Bobby is more of a law-and-order man than I am!”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
He said the election showed that Zambia was a place of peace, law and order and a "democratic nation that settles our differences at the ballot box, and nowhere else".
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
“Miss Deveraux, you are a kind girl, but law and order must be upheld.”
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
John McKinney, 58, who leapfrogged to a second-place finish in the primaries amid a stoic, law-and-order campaign that sometimes slipped into Spencer Pratt-style dystopian imagery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
He said the board also challenged some of the film's factual claims and warned it could trigger law-and-order problems in Punjab.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
Rodriguez worries that Kast’s law-and-order hard line could upset the fragile peace that miners have established with indigenous peoples around their mines.
From Barron's ● Dec. 17, 2025
Eric Adams was gaining national attention as a law-and-order Democrat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2025
It was the first law-and-order assignment he’d been part of since he had arrived.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
