out of order
idiom
1
: not working properly : not able to be used
The elevator's out of order again.
2
: not following the formal rules of a meeting, court session, etc.
At the last town council meeting, her proposal was ruled out of order by the mayor.
The mayor ruled her out of order.
3
British, informal
: beyond what is reasonable or allowable : not right or appropriate
Your behavior was completely out of order.
Examples of out of order in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The power outage has rendered the town's wastewater plant out of order and caused schools to close.
—
Kerry Breen, CBS News, 6 Dec. 2022
Season three will focus on Colin and Penelope's love story, going out of order from Julia Quinn's books.
—Emily Burack, Town & Country, 20 July 2022
What’s less apparent is that production on Pachinko’s first season also took place out of order and sometimes simultaneously in multiple locations that included Canada, Japan and seven Korean cities.
—Rebecca Sun, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 June 2022
Adult Stan tells things out of order, goes on about extraneous details, and introduces characters but forgets to do anything with them.
—Peter Opaskar, Ars Technica, 10 Apr. 2022
Even close observers of the event were not given a clear explanation of why positions seemed to be adjusted as mushers appeared to be called up out of order at the awards banquet in Nome on Sunday.
—Zachariah Hughes, Anchorage Daily News, 26 Mar. 2022
Others toggle between stages, or even experience them out of order.
—Essence, 12 Oct. 2021
Police went to the home and learned that nothing was out of order and that the caller was intoxicated.
—cleveland, 3 Aug. 2021
Additional file boxes stowed in the shower, behind a flimsy beige curtain hanging from a tension rod, further suggest the bathroom was out of order.
—Geraldine Deruiter, Washington Post, 12 June 2023
Kerry Breen, CBS News, 6 Dec. 2022
Season three will focus on Colin and Penelope's love story, going out of order from Julia Quinn's books.
—Emily Burack, Town & Country, 20 July 2022
What’s less apparent is that production on Pachinko’s first season also took place out of order and sometimes simultaneously in multiple locations that included Canada, Japan and seven Korean cities.
—Rebecca Sun, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 June 2022
Adult Stan tells things out of order, goes on about extraneous details, and introduces characters but forgets to do anything with them.
—Peter Opaskar, Ars Technica, 10 Apr. 2022
Even close observers of the event were not given a clear explanation of why positions seemed to be adjusted as mushers appeared to be called up out of order at the awards banquet in Nome on Sunday.
—Zachariah Hughes, Anchorage Daily News, 26 Mar. 2022
Others toggle between stages, or even experience them out of order.
—Essence, 12 Oct. 2021
Police went to the home and learned that nothing was out of order and that the caller was intoxicated.
—cleveland, 3 Aug. 2021
Additional file boxes stowed in the shower, behind a flimsy beige curtain hanging from a tension rod, further suggest the bathroom was out of order.
—Geraldine Deruiter, Washington Post, 12 June 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'out of order.' 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 out of order
Cite this Entry
“Out of order.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/out%20of%20order. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
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