accompany
Americanverb (used with object)
-
accompanies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
accompanied,
past participle, past
-
accompanying
present participle
-
to go along or in company with; join in action.
to accompany a friend on a walk.
-
to be or exist in association or company with.
Thunder accompanies lightning.
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to put in company with; cause to be or go along; associate (usually followed bywith ).
He accompanied his speech with gestures.
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Music. to play or sing an accompaniment to or for.
verb (used without object)
-
accompanies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
accompanied,
past participle, past
-
accompanying
present participle
verb
-
(tr) to go along with, so as to be in company with or escort
-
to supplement
the food is accompanied with a very hot mango pickle
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(tr) to occur, coexist, or be associated with
-
to provide a musical accompaniment for (a performer)
Synonym Usage
Accompany, attend, convoy, escort mean to go along with someone (or something). To accompany is to go along as an associate on equal terms: to accompany a friend on a shopping trip. Attend implies going along with, usually to render service or perform duties: to attend one's employer on a business trip. To convoy is to accompany (especially ships) with an armed guard for protection: to convoy a fleet of merchant vessels. To escort is to accompany in order to protect, guard, honor, or show courtesy: to escort a visiting dignitary.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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accompanysimple
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accompaniessimple
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have accompaniedperfect
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has accompaniedperfect
-
am accompanyingprogressive
-
are accompanyingprogressive
-
is accompanyingprogressive
-
have been accompanyingperfect progressive
-
has been accompanyingperfect progressive
Past
-
accompaniedsimple
-
had accompaniedperfect
-
was accompanyingprogressive
-
were accompanyingprogressive
-
had been accompanyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of accompany
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English accompanye, from Middle French accompagnier; see ac-, company
Explanation
The verb accompany means to keep someone company, or to be their companion on a trip or journey. In a musical sense, accompany means to play background music for the lead singer or soloist. If you want your friend to keep you company on your way to the store, you could ask her to accompany you on the walk. Or, if you want your friend to play piano while you sing a song, you could ask her to accompany you on piano. Just don’t ask her to do both at the same time or your friend may not want to accompany you anywhere any longer.
Vocabulary lists containing accompany
The Circuit
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"Tribute to the Dog," Vocabulary from the speech
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"Lob's Girl" by Joan Aiken
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Together they brought into focus the scale of Carney’s ambitions, and the challenges and risks that accompany them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
The Naga will then accompany the remains of their ancestors home, with some returning for the first time in more than a century.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Avoiding the traps of stuffy academic assessment or testimonial-studded tribute, O’Connor goes the immersive route, letting Hammer’s own voice accompany a deftly edited archival journey that moves easily across personal reflection and societal impact.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
Animations projected on the wall accompany the tapestry, zooming in on details and key events and characters in the artwork, which is replete with gore and drama.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
My mother, whenever I paid her a visit, would make me accompany her to a temple, and together we would pray and pray before the deity, imploring for help until we were giddy.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
“They seem to be especially triggered about my posts about Natalie Harp and how she accompanies the president everywhere.”
From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2026
Often, it helps to see a visual representation of your finances in black and white so you can deal with the hard facts, rather than the swirl of anxiety that accompanies them.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
She often accompanies a group of nuns from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, where they deliver food and clothes to the homeless and drug addicts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
The tagline that accompanies the scene reads: "POV you're a childfree and single girl that has no friends and lives alone so this is how you spend your Friday night."
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
When we listen to a song, a musical phrase usually accompanies a phrase of lyrics; a verse or refrain emerges from a short poem.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
As in Vietnam, larger questions about the impact of war on military readiness accompanied veterans’ soul-searching.
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026
The following year, he released his debut album This Is My Demo, accompanied by the top 40 single, Little Derek, which celebrated how he had "ended up in HMV instead of HMP".
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
In that model, an early rise in D-serine accompanied disruptions in brain signaling.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026
For one, the period of freer trade that accompanied the creation of the WTO in 1995 has profoundly changed the world economy, and in particular raised the relative importance of China and other developing economies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
Harry Sneider, Fischer’s former physical trainer, accompanied Ellsworth to the auction and Sneider’s son subsequently traveled to Budapest with twelve boxes of material.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
The simplest explanation is that what mattered to both was the strength of the economy, and a stronger economy bolstered stocks more than they were hurt by the accompanying higher yields.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
He recalls Teasdale being the subject of similar headlines in national newspapers, and later accompanying him to an event gathering together the best British prospects from every sport for the new Millennium.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
This is illustrated by the accompanying chart, courtesy of calculations provided by Wes Crill, a vice president at Dimensional Fund Advisers.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
In the days leading up to Trump Jr.’s wedding, Kremlev was in China as part of the delegation accompanying Putin, according to Chinese state media.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
They moved from portrait to portrait; at each one, Simon read aloud from the accompanying plaque.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
