order of the day

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.
   • 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. The most significant aspect of something; what is necessary or appropriate.

   White tie and tails are the order of the day.

   • 1935, F.D.Roosevelt, Second State of the Union Address

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

   • 1987, R.Reagan, Presidential Radio Address

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

3. (military) The general directive of a commander in chief or the specific instructions of a commanding officer.