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law and order
noun
- strict control of crime and repression of violence, sometimes involving the possible restriction of civil rights.
law-and-order
noun
- modifier favouring or advocating strong measures to suppress crime and violence
a law-and-order candidate
Word History and Origins
Origin of law and order1
Idioms and Phrases
Strict enforcement of laws, especially for controlling crime. For example, Our candidate is always talking about law and order . The concept behind this term was stated by Aristotle. Today, however, it also carries the implication of infringing on civil rights in the course of too arduous law enforcement. [Late 1500s]Example Sentences
The government is split between libertarians and the law-and-order Conservatives.
Indeed, law-and-order authorities found themselves with little to do.
In recent weeks Libyan officials, when faced by law-and-order challenges, have reflexively blamed former Gaddafi officials.
Blanchard attributes the incarceration rate to a law-and-order mentality that criminalizing something prevents it from happening.
And Republican primary voters are notoriously law-and-order fanatics.
He was a good-looking kid; only he was like all them tenderfoots—he didn't know a law-and-order town when he saw it.
It was a constant topic of conversation among the recognized law-and-order men and all of us agreed the thieves must be checked.
I don't blame Weary; he's looking out for the law-and-order business—and that's all right.
Goodrich brought news that the law-and-order party were preparing an expedition to Charleston to round up Curly Bill.
The best men in early Montana were among the Vigilantes—all the law-and-order men were.
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Definitions 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.
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