convoy
Americanverb (used with object)
-
convoys,
present (3rd person singular)
-
convoyed,
past participle, past
-
convoying
present participle
noun
-
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
-
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
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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:
Shortly afterwards, an AFP reporter saw a silver car with Najib inside leaving the Kajang Prison compound, followed by a convoy of vehicles.
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026
Less than 24 hours after losing the presidential election, he appeared to vanish into a convoy of four dark cars.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
One day after Levine's beating, settlers attacked a convoy of European diplomats including the French and Belgian consuls general in Jerusalem as they went through the town of Taybeh in the West Bank on Saturday.
From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026
But some had since been evacuated, including the 14 Israelis airlifted out on Monday while another five had left the day before via an NGO convoy, despite advice not to travel by road.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
They left the protection of the convoy and headed back toward the floundering little vessels.
From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham
Ukraine's military general staff urged people not to trust unverified reports or spread rumours about "the routes, time and place of the movement of people and humanitarian convoys".
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
Besides often keeping a low profile and maintaining an unremarkable wardrobe, Dangote sometimes drives himself, without the long security convoys associated with many Nigerian elites.
From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026
On Tuesday, the US first lady said on X that the area covered by the ceasefire "has expanded beyond Oleshky, within the Kherson region, to provide safe passage for the humanitarian convoys".
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
Generally speaking, however, tanker convoys, escorted by air and sea by the U.S. military, do the perilous transit through the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
All Alex told his sisters was that the city was under a quarantine and once that ended, the convoys would be running again.
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
In all, the blimps convoyed 89,000 merchant ships and troopships overseas, often through areas infested by wolf packs of Nazi subs, without losing a single ship.
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
Morris Gest, when convoying an attraction on tour revels in such rows in the newspapers.
From Time Magazine Archive
Captain Pearson’s first anxiety was to get between the merchant-ships he was convoying and the privateers, which he successfully accomplished.
From The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 3 by Frederick Whymper
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
