cordon

[ kawr-dn ]
See synonyms for cordon on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a line of police, sentinels, military posts, warships, etc., enclosing or guarding an area.

  2. a cord or braid worn for ornament or as a fastening.

  1. a ribbon worn usually diagonally across the breast as a badge of a knightly or honorary order.

  2. Fortification.

    • a projecting course of stones at the base of a parapet.

    • the coping of a scarp.

  3. Architecture.

    • a stringcourse, especially one having little or no projection.

    • a cut-stone riser on a stepped ramp or the like.

  4. a fruit tree or shrub trained to grow along a support or a series of such supports.

verb (used with object)
  1. to surround or blockade with or as with a cordon (usually followed by off): The police cordoned off the street.

Origin of cordon

1
1400–50; Middle English <Middle French, diminutive of corde

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cordon in a sentence

  • The upright and horizontal cordons may also be used, though neither of these forms is specially well adapted to pears.

    Dwarf Fruit Trees | F. A. Waugh
  • These may be in fact upright cordons which are trained with strong stems and allowed to support themselves without a trellis.

    Dwarf Fruit Trees | F. A. Waugh

British Dictionary definitions for cordon

cordon

/ (ˈkɔːdən) /


noun
  1. a chain of police, soldiers, ships, etc, stationed around an area

  2. a ribbon worn as insignia of honour or rank

  1. a cord or ribbon worn as an ornament or fastening

  2. Also called: string course, belt course, table architect an ornamental projecting band or continuous moulding along a wall

  3. horticulture a form of fruit tree consisting of a single stem bearing fruiting spurs, produced by cutting back all lateral branches

verb
  1. (tr often foll by off) to put or form a cordon (around); close (off)

Origin of cordon

1
C16: from Old French, literally: a little cord, from corde string, cord

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012