cordon off
phrasal verb
cordoned off; cordoning off; cordons off
: to prevent people from getting into (an area) by putting a line of people or objects around or in front of it
Police cordoned off the street.
Examples of cordon off in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
People brought tree branches in a circle to cordon off the area while others put flowers and candles at the memorial by a snow bank.
—
Jack Brook, Twin Cities, 25 Jan. 2026
Yoon sent troops and police officers to encircle the National Assembly, but many apparently didn’t aggressively cordon off the area, allowing enough lawmakers to get into an assembly hall to vote down Yoon’s decree.
—Hyung-Jin Kim, Los Angeles Times, 16 Jan. 2026
News of Short’s death spread quickly, and before authorities could cordon off the crime scene, reporters swarmed the area.
—Alex Gurley, PEOPLE, 15 Jan. 2026
Residents said they were stunned to see armed police cordon off their street and raid a house as news of the shooting emerged.
—Freddie Clayton, NBC news, 15 Dec. 2025
Police cordon off an area around Bondi Beach in the wake of the attack.
—Anna Schecter, CBS News, 14 Dec. 2025
In the classroom above, more volunteers—teachers from schools across Taiwan—crowd around a desktop map of a disaster scenario, discussing where to block traffic, cordon off the public, and station emergency services to best handle whatever crisis is unfolding.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 23 Oct. 2025
In quant portfolios, strategies that cordon off credit risk are back in fashion.
—Dave Smith, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2025
The danger of the fire and the need for investigators to comb through it, prompted police to cordon off McCandlish Road.
—John Wisely, Freep.com, 3 Oct. 2025
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Jack Brook, Twin Cities, 25 Jan. 2026
Yoon sent troops and police officers to encircle the National Assembly, but many apparently didn’t aggressively cordon off the area, allowing enough lawmakers to get into an assembly hall to vote down Yoon’s decree.
—Hyung-Jin Kim, Los Angeles Times, 16 Jan. 2026
News of Short’s death spread quickly, and before authorities could cordon off the crime scene, reporters swarmed the area.
—Alex Gurley, PEOPLE, 15 Jan. 2026
Residents said they were stunned to see armed police cordon off their street and raid a house as news of the shooting emerged.
—Freddie Clayton, NBC news, 15 Dec. 2025
Police cordon off an area around Bondi Beach in the wake of the attack.
—Anna Schecter, CBS News, 14 Dec. 2025
In the classroom above, more volunteers—teachers from schools across Taiwan—crowd around a desktop map of a disaster scenario, discussing where to block traffic, cordon off the public, and station emergency services to best handle whatever crisis is unfolding.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 23 Oct. 2025
In quant portfolios, strategies that cordon off credit risk are back in fashion.
—Dave Smith, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2025
The danger of the fire and the need for investigators to comb through it, prompted police to cordon off McCandlish Road.
—John Wisely, Freep.com, 3 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cordon off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cordon%20off. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
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