shelter in place

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phrase

: to remain inside in one's current location until a danger has passed : to temporarily take shelter in a protected space

The … campus was placed under lockdown in response to the shooting. People on campus were advised to shelter in place. No students were hurt or endangered, the school said.

—Julia Jacobo

These communities—including our own—need to start hardening themselves against future fires. That means preparing homes for fires the way we already do for earthquakes and floods. It also means developing better alert systems, heeding evacuation warnings when they come and being prepared to shelter in place when escape routes are cut off …

—The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, California)

shelter-in-place

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adjective

variants or less commonly shelter in place

: instructing or requiring people to remain in their current location until a danger has passed

The governor has issued a shelter-in-place order.

: of or relating to sheltering in place

shelter-in-place drills

see also shelter in place at shelter entry 2

Examples of shelter in place in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Residents were advised that while smoke may be irritating—particularly for those sensitive to air quality—there is currently no order for evacuation or shelter-in-place, despite a similar order already having been issued and lifted twice since the fire's ignition. —Iris Salem, CBS News, 20 June 2026

While shelter-in-place orders issued earlier in the week have been lifted, officials emphasized that smoky air remains a concern. —James Ward, USA Today, 20 June 2026

That caused officials to announce a shelter-in-place order, which was lifted, only to be reinstated on Thursday after a different section of the building caught fire. —Los Angeles Times, 20 June 2026

Officials anticipated the recent shelter-in-place order to be lifted Thursday evening, though an exact time wasn’t immediately available, according to an LAFD spokesperson. —Sydney Barragan, Daily News, 19 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1977, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for shelter in place

• aromatase
• oligoclase
• plagioclase
• polymerase
• streptokinase
• triphosphatase
• abase
• airspace
• apace
• backspace
• biface
• birthplace