order of the day

plural orders of the day

1. The business to be done by a body (such as a legislature) on a particular day; an agenda.

   1 more example

   1808, From the Journals of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada, during the Hart affair; Proceedings Relating to the Expulsion of Ezekiel Hart from the House of Assembly of Lower Canada The order of the day for the House to resolve into a Committee of the whole, to take into further consideration, the petition of Ezekiel Hart, Esquire, being read.

2. figurativelyThe most significant aspect of something; what is necessary or appropriate.

   White tie and tails are the order of the day.

   4 more examples

   Throughout the world, change is the order of the day.

   1935 January 4, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Second State of the Union Address

   The ranks of political prisoners swelled into the thousands, and beatings, torture, and official murder became the order of the day.

   1987 July 18, Ronald Reagan, Presidential Radio Address

   Standard-issue liberal guilt and hand-wringingly uninteresting dilemmas are the order of the day, with no real surprises or challenges.

   2016 January 7, Peter Bradshaw, “A War review – standard issue Afghan war drama”, in the Guardian, →ISSN

   I'm not in the mood for whisky, nor beer. Something soft would be sensible, but I decide that wine is the order of the day - a sauvignon blanc, which I take with a few olives.

   2023 February 8, Greg Morse, “Crossing the border... by Sleeper”, in RAIL, number 976, page 42

3. governmentThe general directive of a commander-in-chief or the specific instructions of a commanding officer.