From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcordoncor‧don1 /ˈkɔːdn $ ˈkɔːrdn/ noun [countable] PREVENTa line of police officers, soldiers, or vehicles that is put around an area to stop people going therecordon of A cordon of police surrounded the building.cordon around the security cordon around the capital
Examples from the Corpus
cordon• There they were met by a cordon of police, standing in front of a barrier of police tenders.• Looking back, the precipitous shreds of sheeting rain effectively sanctioned a cordon between himself and what had gone before.• But on Dec. 25, Milosevic banned street demonstrations and deployed cordons of heavily armed riot police to block the parades.• F1 Prisca Yields four fruits to the pound; forms five trusses, then stops; ideal for small greenhouses, cordon.• Rock-throwing protesters broke through the police cordon.• The police reacted swiftly and a man who broke through their cordon was brought down by a rugby tackle and arrested.cordoncordon2 verb → cordon something ↔ off→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
cordon• Most of the building is closed off, under repair, with ropes cordoning off huge sections.• The authorities were taken aback, and took the unprecedented step of cordoning off the painting.• You had to chase him off from where you were cordoning off the slip.Origin cordon1 (1700-1800) cordon “strip of cloth or decorative cord” ((16-21 centuries)), from French, from corde; → CORD 