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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
Synonyms

law and order

American  

noun

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


law-and-order British  

noun

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

    a law-and-order candidate

"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

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]


Etymology

Origin of law and order

First recorded in 1590–1600

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