From Longman Business Dictionarycompulsory purchase ordercomˌpulsory ˈpurchase ˌorder abbreviation CPO [countable]LAW PROPERTY in Britain, an instruction from a court of law that gives the local government the right to buy a property or land, for example when they want to build thereThe City Council can’t have the building knocked down but it has applied for a compulsory purchase order. → order
