convoy
Americanverb (used with object)
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convoys,
present (3rd person singular)
-
convoyed,
past participle, past
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convoying
present participle
noun
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convoys
plural
-
the act of convoying.
-
the protection provided by an escort.
-
a ship, fleet, group of vehicles, etc., accompanied by a protecting escort.
-
an armed force, warship, etc., that escorts, especially for protection.
-
any group of military vehicles traveling together under the same orders.
-
Citizens Band Radio Slang. two or more CB-equipped vehicles traveling together.
noun
-
a group of merchant ships with an escort of warships
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a group of land vehicles assembled to travel together
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the act of travelling or escorting by convoy (esp in the phrase in convoy )
verb
Synonym Usage
See accompany.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
convoysimple
-
convoyssimple
-
have convoyedperfect
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has convoyedperfect
-
am convoyingprogressive
-
are convoyingprogressive
-
is convoyingprogressive
-
have been convoyingperfect progressive
-
has been convoyingperfect progressive
Past
-
convoyedsimple
-
had convoyedperfect
-
was convoyingprogressive
-
were convoyingprogressive
-
had been convoyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of convoy
1325–75; Middle English convoyen < Middle French convoier, Anglo-French conveier to convey
Explanation
To travel in a convoy is to be escorted by a group of protective vehicles. If you are a teenage rock star with millions of fans, you probably need a security convoy just to go visit your grandmother. If the President visits your town, you may see a huge convoy of secret service vehicles, limousines, and police cars. Ships can also travel in convoys, with those carrying valuable items surrounded by warships. As a verb, convoy describes the act of traveling together, like when your family and other families convoy to a camp ground, driving in a group, making stops together, and waving to each other on the highway.
Vocabulary lists containing convoy
Tangerine
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Stargirl
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World War I
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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:
Reporters said the convoy had travelled from Lomé port in Togo.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
But a convoy operation is impractical with the blockade in full force, U.S. officials say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Under the Obama administration, an international coalition targeting the Libyan regime of Muammar Gaddafi during the country’s 2011 civil war struck his fleeing convoy, leading to his capture and killing by rebel fighters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
British Museum director Nicholas Cullinan and French ambassador to the UK Helene Duchene posed for photos, as those travelling in the convoy shook hands with museum staff wearing hi-vis vests.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
A convoy of ambulances, police cars, and fire engines turned into the entranceway, their sirens wailing and their lights flashing.
From "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor
The strikes mean Russia has been forced to shorten convoys on supply routes as a "quick coping mechanism to reduce potential damage", Cristian Vlas at conflict monitoring group Acled told BBC Verify.
From BBC ● May 30, 2026
Maine’s camp culture combines rustic canoe trips and campfires with a polished social ecosystem that brings convoys of black SUVs to the state every summer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
He says Britain survived Germany’s blockade in World War I because it began importing grain in multi-vessel convoys that were defended by warships and safely reached port over 99% of the time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
Last week's protests grew from slow-moving convoys on motorways and restricted access to Dublin's busiest streets, to a part blockade of Ireland's only oil refinery and restricted access to at least two other fuel depots.
From Barron's ● Apr. 12, 2026
And if the city had been left to die, did that mean the convoys had stopped altogether?
From "The Dead and the Gone" by Susan Beth Pfeffer
The pangrams from yesterday’s Spelling Bee were conveyed and convoyed.
From New York Times ● Mar. 22, 2023
We convoyed over in shifts, along with other companies from their individual base camps around Mosul.
From Salon ● Nov. 22, 2018
We were 142 people that convoyed together, at minimum one mission a day/night.
From Newsweek ● Mar. 1, 2015
Next afternoon Venezuelan forces cleared the route to the airport of all traffic, and a bulletproof limousine convoyed by six truckloads of armed troops swung through the city with Nixon safely inside.
From Time Magazine Archive
On November 17, 1926, when White was still settling into the new job, two new inmates were convoyed up the prison’s horseshoe driveway by U.S. marshals.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
“If something didn’t send an alarm signal that we needed to have serious assets or protection and convoying of our vessels in that area then I want to know why not.”
From The Guardian ● Jul. 21, 2019
By the time I reached San Clemente, there were four of us convoying at about 20 mph on the 5 to Oceanside.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2018
Dr Labrosse said the main application would be for convoying, where a series of automated vehicles are led by a human driver or a smarter robot at the front.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2015
After 15 years of private-eying, he finds himself back on the Continent convoying a fugitive millionaire industrialist from Brittany to Liechtenstein.
From Time Magazine Archive
T. P., good work in convoying subchasers, 178Mannix, Commr.
From The Victory At Sea by Burton J. Hendrick
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.
