Meaning of order In English

• 0 a request to make, supply, or deliver food or goods:

  • "Can I take your order now?" said the waiter.

  • I would like to place (= make) an order for a large pine table.

  • I got an email saying that the order has been shipped.

  • The new drilling equipment has been on order for several weeks.

  • We make wedding cakes to order.

• 1 the way in which people or things are arranged, either in relation to one another or according to a particular characteristic:

  • The children lined up in order of age/height.

  • I can't find the file I need because they're all out of order (= they are no longer arranged in the correct way).

  • Put the files in alphabetical/chronological order.

  • mainly UK Here's the running order for the concert (= the order in which each item will happen).

• 2 something that someone tells you you must do:

  • The soldiers fired as soon as their commander gave the order.

  • Soldiers must obey orders.

  • What are your orders?

  • My orders are to search everyone's bag as they come in.

  • The road was closed all day by order of the police.

  • Clean up this room immediately - and that's an order!

  • We are under orders not to allow anyone into the building.

• 3 with the aim of achieving something:

  • He came home early in order to see the kids before they went to bed.

  • I agreed to her suggestion in order not to upset her.

• 4 a situation in which everything is arranged in its correct place:

  • The house was such a mess that she spent the whole day trying to establish some kind of order.

  • I try to leave my desk in order when I go home.

  • He put his affairs in order (= made arrangements for his personal and business matters) before he went into the hospital.

• 5 the state of working correctly or of being suitable for use:

  • TV for sale in (good) working order.

  • Are your immigration papers in order (= legally correct)?

  • The coffee machine is out of order (= not working).

• 6 a situation in which rules are obeyed and people do what they are expected to do:

  • The teacher found it hard to keep her class in order.

  • As the demonstration began to turn violent, the police were called in to restore order.

  • After some heated discussion, the chairperson called the meeting to order (= told everyone to stop talking so that the meeting could continue).

  • UK Is it in order (= allowed) for me to park my car outside the building?

• 7 a social or political system:

  • The collapse of Communism at the end of the 1980s encouraged hopes of a new world order.

• 8 a group of people who join together for religious or similar reasons and live according to particular rules:

  • religious/holy orders

  • monks of the Cistercian/Franciscan Order

• 9 a group that people are made members of as a reward for services they have done for their country:

  • He was made a knight of the Order of the Garter.

• 10 the type or size of something:

  • These were problems of a completely different order from anything we had faced before.

  • formal No successful business can be run without skills of the highest order (= great skills).

  • The cost will be something in the order of $500.

• 11 (used in the classification of plants and animals) a group of related plants or animals:

  • An order is below a class and above a family.

• 12 to ask for something to be made, supplied, or delivered, especially in a restaurant or shop:

  • I ordered some pasta and a mixed salad.

  • [ + two objects ] There are no shirts left in this size but we could order one for you/order you one.

• 13 If a person in authority orders someone to do something, or orders something to be done, they tell someone to do it:

  • The management has ordered a cutback in spending.

  • [ + speech ] "Wait over there," she ordered.

  • [ + to infinitive ] They ordered him to leave the room.

• 14 to arrange a group of people or things in a list from first to last:

  • The documents have been ordered alphabetically.

  • I've ordered the application forms into three groups.

• 15 something you are told to do by someone else and which you must do:

  • [ + to infinitive ] The company has received an order to stop releasing pollution into the air.

  • His defense was that he was only obeying orders.

• 16 the way in which people or things are arranged in relation to one another or according to a particular characteristic:

  • Please arrange the books in alphabetical order by author.

  • I can’t find the files I need because they’re all out of order (= they are not arranged in the correct way).

  • I want to leave my desk in order before I go on vacation.

• 17 a situation in which rules are obeyed and people do what they are expected to do:

  • Observers were present to preserve order during the voting.

• 18 the state of working correctly or of being suitable for use:

  • The set of power tools are all in good working order.

  • Are your immigration papers in order (= legally correct)?

  • The elevator is out of order (= not working).

• 19 a social or political system:

  • a new economic order

• 20 An order is also the thing that has been requested:

  • The store phoned to say your order has come in.

  • The lamp has been on order for several weeks.

• 21 to ask for something to be made, supplied, or delivered:

  • [ I ] Are you ready to order, or do you need a little more time?

  • [ T ] I ordered some pasta and a mixed salad.

  • [ T ] After looking through the catalog, she called the store and ordered new sheets and towels.

• 22 (esp. of a person in authority) to tell someone to do something:

  • They ordered him to leave the room.

• 23 a request from a customer for goods or services:

  • Recent trends suggest that orders are unlikely to be converted into sales until the second half.

  • We make a service and handling charge of $4 for all phone and internet orders of tickets.

  • Already, the US aeronautics company has accumulated its biggest-ever backlog of orders - valued at $475 million.

  • online/postal orders

  • We're encouraged by the rise in order intakes this past quarter.

  • a reduction in order volumes in the UK

  • place/put in an order (for sth) Placing orders by computer for medications ensures greater efficiency and a quicker delivery time to patients.

  • take/get/receive an order (for sth) The Project extended the period for taking orders for its €45 million IPO until Friday.

  • lose/win/cancel an order (for sth) Due to technical difficulties, the company recently lost an order for $175,000 worth of bakery equipment.

  • process/fill/make up an order (for sth) The time it takes to fill orders for cars has increased.

  • Once an order goes through, a message is sent to an inventory system on another computer.

  • orders are up/down Durable goods orders were up in October by 2.9 %.

  • orders fall/increase/rise In the past twelve months, we have seen export orders rise by 26%.

• 24 the goods that a customer has ordered from a company, store, or manufacturer:

  • Call centres were flooded with complaints from people who had experienced problems with their orders.

  • deliver/send/supply an order We will notify you by email once your order has been sent.

  • receive/get/take delivery of an order The "Super Express" option enables customers to receive orders on the next working day.

  • handle/trace/monitor an order By going online, our customers can easily trace the status of their order.

  • In spite of the rail strike, only a handful of orders were delayed.

• 25 a statement made by a court of law or an official authority saying that something must be done:

  • issue/back/block an order The company was forced to stop selling insurance in May after the order which was issued by Florida's Insurance Department.

  • an order expires/is extended The order was scheduled to expire today but was extended at the request of US prosecutors.

  • an order to do sth Authorities need an order from the courts to require libraries to provide records on the borrowing of books and on the use of internet sites.

• 26 the way in which data or information is arranged:

  • in alphabetical/numerical/date order Names of recent clients are listed in alphabetical order.

  • the order of priority/preference There are laws that control the order of priority for payments to creditors.

• 27 a situation in which laws or rules relating to a particular activity exist:

  • The federal government needs to bring order to the complicated system of trading.

  • a new world/global/economic order

• 28 to be necessary :

  • Recent events have shown that a review of existing laws is in order.

  • Check that all your documentation is in order before travelling abroad.

• 29 to make something for a specific customer, rather than making something in large numbers:

  • All our furniture is made to order.

• 30 according to the orders of a judge or someone in a position of authority:

  • After a press scandal concerning the company's CEO, the deal was canceled by order of the state attorney general.

• 31 data or information that is arranged in ascending order is arranged so that the smallest or least important numbers, facts, etc. are shown first; data or information that is arranged in descending order is arranged so that the largest or most important numbers, facts, etc. are shown first:

  • Click once and the list is sorted in ascending order; click again and it's sorted in descending order.

• 32 in good condition, or in good enough condition to be used:

  • Business owners are being urged to check that their CCTV cameras are in working order.

• 33 having the approximate value stated:

  • The German group is capable of financing a deal in the order of €100bn.

  • The latest estimates of the state's unfunded pension liability are on the order of $10 billion.

• 34 to make sure that something is done in a controlled way, or to take action in order to control something :

  • Huge budget cuts are inevitable in order to put public finances back in order.

• 35 something that is on order has been asked for by a customer but has not yet been received by them:

  • The shipping company is the largest buyer of the new trucks, with 55 currently on order.

• 36 the order in which different subjects are discussed at a business meeting:

  • Has anyone any changes to suggest to the order of business?

  • Our first order of business is how to tackle the current debt crisis.

• 37 not acceptable according to a law or rule, or according to what people think is correct or suitable:

  • Her comments were ruled out of order by the chairperson.

  • The Press Complaints Commission acknowledged that newspaper coverage of the event had been completely out of order.

  • All our elevators are currently out of order.

  • The pages I printed out were all out of order.

• 38 a person or organization that is under orders to do something has been told officially to do something:

  • Commercial banks are under orders not to begin selling the new coins to customers until Thursday.

• 39 to ask a company, store, manufacturer, etc. to supply goods or services:

  • Our new service enables you to order foreign currency online.

  • To order your copy, visit our website or call this number.

  • order sth online/on the internet More and more people are ordering books and DVDs online.

• 40 to tell someone to do something, especially when you are in a position of legal or official authority:

  • order sb/sth to do sth State agencies were ordered to cut all nonessential energy use.

  • Banks have been ordered by the Financial Services Authority to assess how they would cope in the event of house prices crashing by 40 %.

  • order a trial/investigation/inquiry Local governments have ordered an inquiry into radiation levels in the affected areas.

  • order that Alaska's attorney-general has ordered that the company retain all documents relating to financial transactions in the current fiscal year.

• 41 to organize information or data using a particular method:

  • He counted and ordered the copies.

  • order sth alphabetically/numerically/by date Order the documents in the file by date.