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• law and order
  law and order

  noun

  strict control of crime and repression of violence, sometimes involving the possible restriction of civil rights.
• law-and-order
  law-and-order

  noun

  (modifier) favouring or advocating strong measures to suppress crime and violence

law and order

American  

noun

1. strict control of crime and repression of violence, sometimes involving the possible restriction of civil rights.

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law-and-order British  

noun

1. (modifier) favouring or advocating strong measures to suppress crime and violence

   a law-and-order candidate

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law and order Idioms  

1. 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]

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Etymology

Origin of law and order

First recorded in 1590–1600

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

law and order law-and-order

Here are the legal personalities keeping law and order in the Oakland, Calif., courthouse:

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 10, 2026

If he wins, that would give the SNP their fifth consecutive term in charge of devolved public services such as the NHS, education and law and order.

From BBC ● May 1, 2026

Also a former justice minister, Dati wants to boost law and order by giving weapons to municipal police officers and increasing video surveillance.

From Barron's ● Mar. 15, 2026

Sustainable gains on law and order are years away at best, despite the heroism of Harfuch’s Untouchables.

From Barron's ● Feb. 24, 2026

“In fact, Colonel Arbuthnot, you prefer law and order to private vengeance?”

From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie

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

But in 2022, when billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso ran against Bass on a centrist law-and-order platform, he switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democratic.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 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

Some officials hope the law-and-order push will ease Memphis’s reputation as crime-ridden, a stigma the city has carried for years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 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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