call to order

Idioms & Phrases

call to order

Formally open a meeting; also, bid people to obey the rules. For example, The chairman used his gavel to call everyone to order, or The judge called the spectators to order and threatened to make them leave. [Early 1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature