MARCHING ORDERS • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Marching orders

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/mˈɑrtʃɪŋ ˈɔrdərz/ Listen

Marching orders

noun

(informal) a notice of dismissal or discharge. Synonym: walking papers.

An order from a superior officer for troops to depart.

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Etymology of 'Marching orders'

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"Marching orders" Quotes from Famous Books

... others—very often, let it be said, against his own better judgment. Mr Redmond had a matchless faculty for stating the case of Ireland in sonorous sentences, but too often he was content to take his marching orders from those powers behind the throne who were the real manipulators of what passed for an Irish policy. In the shaping of this policy and in the general ordering of affairs, the rank and file of the members had ...

— Ireland Since Parnell • Daniel Desmond Sheehan

... departure from the room. But to make the event certain, it was necessary to grasp the globe firmly and spin it round on its axis. That always proved successful. Mr Morgan would dash down from his dais, address the offender in spirited terms, and give him his marching orders at once and ...

— The Gold Bat • P. G. Wodehouse

... Christmas they were disappointed. The government had as yet no communication to make. Next morning, in the darkness before dawn, the special train carried them to their homes, to await with curiosity their next marching orders. ...

— Uppingham by the Sea - a Narrative of the Year at Borth • John Henry Skrine

Words linked to "Marching orders" : order, dismission, dismissal, pink slip