give somebody their marching orders

give (one) (one's) marching orders

To dismiss one from employment; to order one to leave or move on from a place. An allusion to a military command of deployment. After messing up that account, I'm terrified that my boss is going to give me my marching orders. Bill had been living in his parents' house for nearly a year without working when they finally gave him his marching orders out of there.See also: give, marche, order

give somebody their ˈmarching orders

(British English, informal) tell somebody to leave a job, a relationship, etc: When she found out he was seeing another woman, she gave him his marching orders.See also: give, marche, order, somebody