tour
Americannoun
-
tours
plural
-
a traveling around from place to place.
-
a long journey including the visiting of a number of places in sequence, especially with an organized group led by a guide.
- Synonyms:
- expedition, trip
-
a brief trip through a place, as a building or a site, in order to view or inspect it.
The visiting prime minister was given a tour of the chemical plant.
-
a journey from town to town to fulfill engagements, as by a theatrical company or an entertainer.
to go on tour; a European concert tour.
-
a period of duty at one place or in one job.
verb (used without object)
-
tours,
present (3rd person singular)
-
toured,
past participle, past
-
touring
present participle
-
to travel from place to place.
- Synonyms:
- visit
-
to travel from town to town fulfilling engagements.
verb (used with object)
-
tours,
present (3rd person singular)
-
toured,
past participle, past
-
touring
present participle
-
to travel through (a place).
- Synonyms:
- visit
-
to send or take (a theatrical company, its production, etc.) from town to town.
-
to guide (someone) on a tour.
He toured us through the chateaus of the Loire Valley.
noun
-
an extended journey, usually taken for pleasure, visiting places of interest along the route
-
military a period of service, esp in one place of duty
-
a short trip, as for inspection
-
a trip made by a theatre company, orchestra, etc, to perform in several different places
a concert tour
-
an overseas trip made by a cricket or rugby team, etc, to play in several places
verb
-
to make a tour of (a place)
-
to perform (a show) or promote (a product) in several different places
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
toursimple
-
tourssimple
-
have touredperfect
-
has touredperfect
-
am touringprogressive
-
are touringprogressive
-
is touringprogressive
-
have been touringperfect progressive
-
has been touringperfect progressive
Past
-
touredsimple
-
had touredperfect
-
was touringprogressive
-
were touringprogressive
-
had been touringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tour
1250–1300; Middle English (noun) < Middle French < Latin tornus < Greek tórnos tool for making a circle. See turn
Explanation
Use the noun tour to describe a route taken while sight-seeing or the act of experiencing a place, like a tour of Italy in which travelers tour museums and churches. Not all tours have to do with vacations. In fact, a tour can be quite the opposite, such as a snowplow driver whose tour during a blizzard lasts until the streets are clear, or military personnel who serve a tour of duty in the place they are assigned. These kinds of tours involve a commitment of work or service for a certain period of time.
Vocabulary lists containing tour
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Greetings, World Traveler! — List 3
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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:
She’ll also be backed by a full band during her “New Avatar Live” tour, which she envisions as a high-energy rave that could break into a mosh pit at any moment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
By Tuesday, as word spread that Macklemore was removed from Sheeran’s tour, “Hind’s Hall” was up to 87,000 daily plays.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
What follows is a fourth grader’s tour of the American health-care system.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
Also, the Gallagher brothers, now both in their 50s, did not play three nights in a row throughout their comeback tour - making the prospect of Glastonbury seem even less likely.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
It was impossible to recognize that stooped and shabby little man in the glorious figure at the door, greeting newcomers with a formal welcome followed by a relentless tour of the shop.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Five of the top 10 tours in 2024 were by artists over the age of 60.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
I saw this firsthand in all my tours.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
He conducts tours of the White House helipad while promoting a fertilizer brand on national television.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
Additionally nine players, including Rahm, agreed conditional releases this year which allowed them to feature on both tours without disciplinary action.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
“It’s just a bunch of info about tours and accepted students day.”
From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli
Nepal's president, Ram Chandra Paudel, toured areas devastated by the floods on Monday, an aide told Reuters.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
“He was already pretty well-known in the community,” said Cohen, who remembers meeting Yang when Yang toured Carnegie Mellon as a prospective student.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
“I hope that people say I was a good and decent man,” Cook said on CBS earlier this month, as he toured a newly opened Houston manufacturing facility.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
Veteran talk show host Tavis Smiley said he toured the construction site this week with L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
One afternoon a pair of foreign dignitaries toured the mill, and Mr. Marsden brought them over to watch Lyddie work.
From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson
"But the fact it took a huge public backlash to make him realise that being Norfolk's police and crime commissioner should come before his career as a touring personality tells its own story," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
“The touring sides are expecting a decent game when they come here,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
It’s a hard place to be right now as far as touring too.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
The 58-year-old superstar was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder called stiff person syndrome in 2022, which forced her to pull back from touring.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
One night there I attended a performance at a family circus that was touring the Andes.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
