3 N‑COUNT If someone in authority gives you an order , they tell you to do something. □ [+ to-inf] The activists were shot when they refused to obey an order to halt. □ [+ for ] As darkness fell, Clinton gave orders for his men to rest. □ They were later arrested and executed on the orders of Stalin.
4 N‑COUNT A court order is a legal instruction stating that something must be done. □ She has decided not to appeal against a court order banning her from keeping animals. □ He was placed under a two-year supervision order.
5 VERB When you order something that you are going to pay for, you ask for it to be brought to you, sent to you, or obtained for you. □ [V n] Atanas ordered a shrimp cocktail and a salad. □ [V ] The waitress appeared. 'Are you ready to order?'. □ [V n n] We ordered him a coffee.
6 N‑COUNT An order is a request for something to be brought, made, or obtained for you in return for money. □ [+ for ] I did manage to place an order for a blazer the right size.
7 N‑COUNT Someone's order is what they have asked to be brought, made, or obtained for them in return for money. □ The waiter returned with their order and Graham signed the bill. □ They can't supply our order.
8 → see also holy orders , mail order , postal order , standing order
9 PHRASE Something that is on order at a shop or factory has been asked for but has not yet been supplied. □ The airlines still have 2,500 new aeroplanes on order.
10 PHRASE If you do something to order , you do it whenever you are asked to do it. □ She now makes wonderful dried flower arrangements to order.
11 PHRASE If you are under orders to do something, you have been told to do it by someone in authority. □ I am under orders not to discuss his mission or his location with anyone.
12 your marching orders → see march
13 a tall order → see tall
▸ order around in BRIT, also use order about PHRASAL VERB If you say that someone is ordering you around or is ordering you about , you mean they are telling you what to do as if they have authority over you, and you dislike this. □ [V n P ] Grandmother felt free to order her about just as she wished. [Also V P n]
➌ or|der ◆◆◇ /ɔː r də r / (orders , ordering , ordered )
→ Please look at categories 19 and 20 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.
1 N‑VAR [oft a N , oft in/into N ] If a set of things are arranged or done in a particular order , they are arranged or done so one thing follows another, often according to a particular factor such as importance. □ Write down (in order of priority) the qualities you'd like to have. □ Music shops should arrange their recordings in simple alphabetical order.
2 N‑UNCOUNT Order is the situation that exists when everything is in the correct or expected place, or happens at the correct or expected time. □ The wish to impose order upon confusion is a kind of intellectual instinct. □ Making lists can create order and control.
3 N‑UNCOUNT Order is the situation that exists when people obey the law and do not fight or riot. □ Troops were sent to the islands to restore order last November. □ He has the power to use force to maintain public order.
4 N‑SING When people talk about a particular order , they mean the way society is organized at a particular time. □ The end of the Cold War has produced the prospect of a new world order based on international co-operation.
5 VERB The way that something is ordered is the way that it is organized and structured. □ [be V -ed] …a society which is ordered by hierarchy. □ [V n] We know the French order things differently. □ [V -ed] …a carefully ordered system in which everyone has his place.
6 N‑COUNT [usu of supp N ] If you refer to something of a particular order , you mean something of a particular kind. [FORMAL ] □ Another unexpected event, though of quite a different order, occurred one evening in 1973.
7 N‑COUNT A religious order is a group of monks or nuns who live according to a particular set of rules. □ [+ of ] …the Benedictine order of monks.
8 → see also ordered , law and order , pecking order , point of order
9 PHRASE If you put or keep something in order , you make sure that it is tidy or properly organized. □ Now he has a chance to put his life back in order. □ Someone comes in every day to check all is in order.
10 PHRASE If you think something is in order , you think it should happen or be provided. □ Reforms are clearly in order.
11 PHRASE You use in the order of or of the order of when mentioning an approximate figure. □ They borrowed something in the order of £10 million.
12 PHRASE If something is in good order , it is in good condition. □ The vessel's safety equipment was not in good order.
13 PHRASE A machine or device that is in working order is functioning properly and is not broken. □ Only half of the spacecraft's six science instruments are still in working order.
14 PHRASE If a particular way of behaving or doing something is the order of the day , it is very common. □ Hot strong tea is the order of the day here, but coffee is becoming more and more popular.
15 PHRASE A machine or device that is out of order is broken and does not work. □ Their phone's out of order.