restraining order

American

noun

Law.

a judicial order to forbid a particular act until a decision is reached on an application for an injunction.

restraining order British

noun

law an order issued by a civil court to a potential abuser to keep away from those named in the order

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

restraining orders

plural

Etymology

Origin of restraining order

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

restraining order

A California court previously granted parental rights to Ahmed and Gilkar, while a Texas court issued a restraining order blocking West from seeing the baby.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

A temporary restraining order was granted on July 7.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

They also requested a temporary restraining order against the agency’s efforts to force an early review of its licenses.

From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2026

The network asked for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to halt the FCC’s license-renewal process.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

He’s probably writing a mental restraining order right now.

From "Please Ignore Vera Dietz" by A.S. King

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023