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Definition of "marching orders" []

  • Orders to move on or depart. (noun-plural)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "marching orders" in a sentence
  • "He received his marching orders during the early afternoon of September 15, but it was 8:00 A.M. September 16 before he bivouacked at Halltown, four miles from his starting point."
  • "Yours of the 18th ult. is at hand, having been forwarded from Somersville, Va; and I will have to answer it in brief to = night, as we are under marching orders for to = morrow morning at 3.30, and"
  • "Colback's dismissal was the most notable, as the teenager, who only returned from a loan spell at Ipswich last week, had only been on the field for 17 minutes when he received his marching orders in stoppage time."