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 On either side, blankets hung from the ceiling to cordon off small areas for entire families, offering a sliver of privacy. Irfan Galaria, The Mercury News, 23 Feb. 2024 Striped plastic barricades still cordon off new stretches of road, all within view of columns of traffic that lumber past during rush hour. Jaime Moore-Carrillo, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 Feb. 2024 These regimes cordon off their domestic Internet space and shut off their citizens from global information flows, while undermining rival countries through disinformation campaigns and hacking. Eric Rosenbach, Foreign Affairs, 17 Sep. 2019 There have been some efforts to fix the situation by DOT — currently plastic bollards cordon off a section of the No Standing zone on Flatbush so there’s a space off the sidewalk for the mopeds and e-bikes to park. Clio Chang, Curbed, 8 Jan. 2024 Activists intent on preserving the park were tipped off several days in advance that the university would try to cordon off the site while students were on break. Hannah Wiley, Los Angeles Times, 4 Jan. 2024 Unless the National Park Service cordons off the monuments, tourists of all political persuasions will always want rides. Reis Thebault, Washington Post, 28 Sep. 2023 In June, top global venture capital firm Sequoia announced a similar decision to cordon off its operations into three entities that cover Europe and the United States; China; and India and Southeast Asia. Michelle Toh, CNN, 22 Sep. 2023 In a speech marking the 17th anniversary of the July War, leader Hassan Nasrallah said they were erected in response to a move by Israel last year to cordon off parts of the village of Ghajar. Sarah Dadouch, Washington Post, 5 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cordon off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near cordon off

Cite this Entry

“Cordon off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cordon%20off. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on cordon off

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!