name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A ribbon normally worn diagonally across the chest as a decoration or insignia of rank etc. archaic
2. 2
   adornment consisting of an ornamental ribbon or cord wordnet
3. 3
   A line of people or things placed around an area to enclose or protect it.
4. 4
   cord or ribbon worn as an insignia of honor or rank wordnet
5. 5
   The arc of fielders on the off side, behind the batsman: the slips and gully.

Show 2 more definitions

6. 6
   a series of sentinels or of military posts enclosing or guarding some place or thing wordnet
7. 7
   A woody plant, such as a fruit tree, pruned and trained to grow as a single stem on a support.

Verb

1. 1
   Synonym of cordon off. transitive

   "Strong detachments of infantry instead of gendarmes cordoned the streets leading to the Lycée."

Proper Noun

1. 1
   A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms

advance guardarmed guardbank guardbeleaguerbesetbesiege

Example

More examples

"The police had to cordon off the area."

Etymology

From Middle English cordon, from Middle French cordon, from Old French cordon, diminutive of corde. More at cord.

Related phrases

sanitary cordon

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.