Definition of "state of emergency" [state of emergency]

• A government decree that a particular situation requires the implementation of pre-arranged responses on a large scale. (noun)
• The status quo following such declaration. (noun)

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• "On July 26th, Badoglio had declared a state of emergency to prevent civil war."
• "Demonstrations at Berkeley to support French students and oppose de Gaulle turned into two nights of rioting until police enforced a curfew and state of emergency on the entire city of Berkeley."
• "After thirty years in power, the INC and the Nehru-Gandhi family found itself in opposition for the first time, in large part because Indira used the state of emergency to cover abuses of power most frequently found in left-side-of-the-J-curve states."