cordon off
phrasal verb
cordoned off; cordoning off; cordons off
: to prevent people from getting into (an area) by putting a line of people or objects around or in front of it
Police cordoned off the street.
Examples of cordon off in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Police cordon off downtown following an incident involving multiple injuries that the FBI is investigating as an act of terror on June 1, 2025 in Boulder, Colorado.
—
Peter Aitken, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 June 2025
The city should cordon off Battery Park in the same manner.
—Michael Burke, New York Daily News, 24 May 2025
The city will cordon off a section of West Bewick Street connecting South Jennings Avenue and May Street for another month to finish repaving the strip.
—Jaime Moore-Carrillo, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 May 2025
Ultimately, the British worked with an upstart liberal country—the United States—to cordon off the Western Hemisphere from European intervention, tacitly supporting the Monroe Doctrine with British naval might.
—Stacie E. Goddard, Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
Both industries have a significant focus on preventing hacks based upon requirements and industry standards with architectures that cordon off important areas.
—Steve Tengler, Forbes.com, 27 Mar. 2025
After a strike in Pakistan, militants often cordon off the area, remove their dead, and admit only local reporters sympathetic to their cause or decide on a body count themselves.
—Daniel Byman, Foreign Affairs, 1 July 2013
Fort Worth leaders voted to cordon off sections of Craig Street in and around the Handley neighborhood in October.
—Jaime Moore-Carrillo, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Mar. 2025
An eyesore near City Hall dropped bricks so often that the city had to cordon off the street.
—Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
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Peter Aitken, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 June 2025
The city should cordon off Battery Park in the same manner.
—Michael Burke, New York Daily News, 24 May 2025
The city will cordon off a section of West Bewick Street connecting South Jennings Avenue and May Street for another month to finish repaving the strip.
—Jaime Moore-Carrillo, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 May 2025
Ultimately, the British worked with an upstart liberal country—the United States—to cordon off the Western Hemisphere from European intervention, tacitly supporting the Monroe Doctrine with British naval might.
—Stacie E. Goddard, Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
Both industries have a significant focus on preventing hacks based upon requirements and industry standards with architectures that cordon off important areas.
—Steve Tengler, Forbes.com, 27 Mar. 2025
After a strike in Pakistan, militants often cordon off the area, remove their dead, and admit only local reporters sympathetic to their cause or decide on a body count themselves.
—Daniel Byman, Foreign Affairs, 1 July 2013
Fort Worth leaders voted to cordon off sections of Craig Street in and around the Handley neighborhood in October.
—Jaime Moore-Carrillo, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Mar. 2025
An eyesore near City Hall dropped bricks so often that the city had to cordon off the street.
—Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cordon off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cordon%20off. Accessed 6 Jun. 2025.
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