cordon

[ kawr-dn ]

/ ˈkɔr dn /

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See synonyms for: cordon / cordoned / cordoning on Thesaurus.com

noun

a line of police, sentinels, military posts, warships, etc., enclosing or guarding an area.

a cord or braid worn for ornament or as a fastening.

a ribbon worn usually diagonally across the breast as a badge of a knightly or honorary order.

Fortification.

a projecting course of stones at the base of a parapet.
the coping of a scarp.

Architecture.

a stringcourse, especially one having little or no projection.
a cut-stone riser on a stepped ramp or the like.

a fruit tree or shrub trained to grow along a support or a series of such supports.

verb (used with object)

to surround or blockade with or as with a cordon (usually followed by off): The police cordoned off the street.

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Origin of cordon

1400–50; Middle English <Middle French, diminutive of corde

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cordon in a sentence

The measures are the latest in a tightening security cordon around the nation’s capital that already includes a downtown security zone and more than 20,000 National Guard troops stationed around the city.
National Mall will be closed for nearly a week, Park Service announces|Justin Jouvenal|January 15, 2021|Washington Post
In one video widely circulated on social media, a USCP officer appears to pull aside a barricade and let marchers within the cordon surrounding the Capitol.
Why did police fail to protect the Capitol?|David Morris|January 8, 2021|Fortune
Before his death, when Basit found himself trapped in the military cordon, he called his family for the last time.
Four Sons, One War: All Dead|Eugene Robinson|September 25, 2020|Ozy
The scene was heavily cordoned off to traffic and anyone not with the police, press, or residents.
Police Hunt for Paris Massacre Suspects|Tracy McNicoll, Christopher Dickey|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

By about 10 p.m. Police had the three affected streets cordoned off.
Frat Culture Clashes With Riot Police at Keene, N.H., Pumpkin Festival|Melanie Plenda|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He complained that not only has their house been cordoned off and “fumigated” but most of the neighbors have fled in fear.
Ebola in Europe: What Went Wrong|Barbie Latza Nadeau|October 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Planes, boats, cars, strangers—all were banned from entering the cordoned off area.
1976 Vs. Today: Ebola’s Terrifying Evolution|Abby Haglage|September 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A big section of Watertown was cordoned off and police began a methodical, door-to-door, nerve-straining search.
Boston Suspects Tamerlan & Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, From Boxing to Bombs|Michael Daly|April 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST
In the blinding height of a Panhandle summer it is no good thing to be cordoned about with dead ponies and dead Indians.
The Sunset Trail|Alfred Henry Lewis
Holding a baby in her arms, she burst out of the ring of men who had cordoned off the beheading.
The Saracen: The Holy War|Robert Shea
The place could have been cordoned off, with the police, the army and the navy all cooperating to nab me.
The Old Die Rich|Horace Leonard Gold

British Dictionary definitions for cordon

cordon

/ (ˈkɔːdən) /

noun

a chain of police, soldiers, ships, etc, stationed around an area

a ribbon worn as insignia of honour or rank

a cord or ribbon worn as an ornament or fastening

Also called: string course, belt course, table architect an ornamental projecting band or continuous moulding along a wall

horticulture a form of fruit tree consisting of a single stem bearing fruiting spurs, produced by cutting back all lateral branches

verb

(tr often foll by off) to put or form a cordon (around); close (off)

Word Origin for cordon

C16: from Old French, literally: a little cord, from corde string, cord

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

cordon

Origin of cordon

Words related to cordon

How to use cordon in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cordon

Word Origin for cordon