marching order
- noun
- /ˈmɑːrʧɪŋ ˈɔrdər/
- Specialized
:
orden de marcha
- He ensured that all the new recruits were in proper marching order before the inspection.
Examples
-
It's veterans, big flags, and the usual marching order: ("Forward!" is a marching command.)
Blog text (20) -
"That is the marching order we must impose on ourselves because we have postponed and postponed and postponed real reductions in emissions.
Blog text (30) -
At that point, she had studied numerous horror stories in the Jewish Bible, but it had not occurred to her that "The LORD is a man of war" was the source of the avatar's marching orders.
Blog text (7) -
The soldiers stood in perfect marching order, ready to begin the parade.
-
Before the drill, the troops formed themselves into marching order to check their equipment.
Surface Forms
Morphology
Although the words 'march' and 'order' clearly relate to marching, a B1 learner who knows 'order' only as an official command will likely infer 'an order to march' rather than the specific sense 'equipment or kit ready for marching'. The MWE's meaning depends on a less salient sense of 'order' (condition/arrangement or set of kit) and conventionalized usage, so the relation is partially clear but not fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
The noun marching order comes from soldiers getting ready to move: they put on boots, packs and uniform and put everything in order before marching. That's why marching order now means 'the equipment, uniform, and kit worn or prepared when soldiers are ready to move out'.
