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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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

law and order law-and-order

President Asif Ali Zardari signed the order after cabinet recommendations "regarding the law and order situation, and the failure of negotiations with government delegations", his office said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 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

"My anxiety is, decent people start believing these lies, this dystopian image of London being in decline, that we're a dangerous city, that there is no law and order," he said.

From BBC ● May 15, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 10, 2026

The Americans, with their law and order, with their traffic lights everywhere — how could the Americans of all people do this?

From "Typical American" by Gish Jen

Members of Bihar's governing coalition have rejected the opposition's wider criticism of the state's law-and-order record and said those responsible for the attack would face strict action.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 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

PARIS—Former President Nicolas Sarkozy began a five-year prison sentence on Tuesday, marking an unprecedented downfall for a French ex-head of state who rose to power as a political outsider with blunt law-and-order rhetoric.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025

Instead, he shifted his focus to Memphis, Tenn., as the next stage for his law-and-order theater.

From Salon ● Sep. 25, 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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