escort
Americannoun
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escorts
plural
-
a group of persons, or a single person, accompanying another or others for protection, guidance, or courtesy.
An escort of sailors accompanied the queen.
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an armed guard, as a body of soldiers or ships.
The president traveled with a large escort of motorcycle police.
-
a man or boy who accompanies a woman or girl in public, as to a social event.
-
a person, especially a woman female escort, but sometimes a man male escort, who is paid to go on a date with a client, and usually to engage in sex acts for money.
-
protection, safeguard, or guidance on a journey.
to travel without escort.
- Synonyms:
- convoy
verb (used with object)
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escorts,
present (3rd person singular)
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escorted,
past participle, past
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escorting
present participle
noun
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one or more persons, soldiers, vehicles, etc, accompanying another or others for protection, guidance, restraint, or as a mark of honour
-
a man or youth who accompanies a woman or girl
he was her escort for the evening
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-
a person, esp a young woman, who may be hired to accompany another for entertainment, etc
-
( as modifier )
an escort agency
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verb
Synonym Usage
See accompany.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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escortsimple
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escortssimple
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have escortedperfect
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has escortedperfect
-
am escortingprogressive
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are escortingprogressive
-
is escortingprogressive
-
have been escortingperfect progressive
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has been escortingperfect progressive
Past
-
escortedsimple
-
had escortedperfect
-
was escortingprogressive
-
were escortingprogressive
-
had been escortingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of escort
First recorded in 1570–80; from French, from Italian scorta, derivative of scorgere “to conduct, guide,” from Vulgar Latin excorrigere (unrecorded); see ex- 1, correct
Explanation
When you go somewhere, whether it's for fun or business, it's always nice to have an escort — someone to go along with you. Some escorts are there to protect you, some just to share a good time. The word escort can be a noun or a verb — "your escort escorts you." This word is derived from the Latin excorrigere, "to set out," and moved through the Italian scorgere, meaning "to guide." In the 1570s it took on a military tone as escorte, used to describe armed protectors for travelers. In the 19th century it came to mean "accompanying a person on social occasions," although we still refer to military escorts today.
Vocabulary lists containing escort
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 26–31
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Beowulf: A New Telling
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Tears of a Tiger
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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:
In 2025, a female humpback whale was observed off the southern Gold Coast with an escort whale after apparently giving birth to a deceased calf.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
No small boat arrivals to the UK coast without an escort have been officially recorded since 6 September, 2025.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
Ole Miss had security escort Kiffin from the building and installed Golding in his place.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
It has also had to reposition the USS George Washington vessel and its escort warships to the Persian Gulf from Japan—thus removing the Navy’s only aircraft carrier in the Pacific.
From Slate ● Aug. 31, 2026
Thankfully, the guards didn’t say anything when she asked them to escort her to the library at midnight.
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
Maybe threatening to attack is enough of a deterrent, and maybe military escorts are effective, Mills said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
Worse, it may be losing control of the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S. escorts increasing quantities of oil.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
SoFi Stadium aced the physical infrastructure with working elevators, wheelchair escorts and accessible seating with clear sightlines on every level.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
And then “San Marcos el Fin” gently escorts the listener out of this particular room.
From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026
For over a year, the male French pilots of the Normandie-Niemen Regiment, flying dangerous Soviet Yaks, frequently served as fighter escorts for the women of the 125th Guards in their powerful Pe-2 dive-bombers.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
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
Athlete videos were played inside the stadium before events and winners held centre-court style interviews before being escorted to a champions' enclosure, where they joined Bolt and master of ceremonies Noah Lyles.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
The maître d’ escorted us to a banquette near a window facing northeast.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
In 2023, Parton was escorted onto the field by legendary Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning to lead the crowd in singing “Rocky Top” following the first quarter of the Volunteers’ game against the Georgia Bulldogs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026
They were all escorted to the steps of City Hall, where the Mayor of New York made a speech of welcome.
From "James and the Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl
But a Cal Fire firefighter stepped in on Tuesday, escorting a staff member to the property so she could release the critically endangered birds back into the wild.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Nagraj, 46, managed the paid caregivers working at his in-laws’ house while coordinating doctors’ appointments for his father-in-law, and escorting him to them.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on June 12 that the U.S. military was escorting ships carrying about 7 million barrels a day out of the Persian Gulf.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
Local villagers whom he regularly employs to assist him in escorting groups up Dukono also did not tell him anything about the prohibition, he added.
From BBC ● May 11, 2026
From their vantage point, the children could make out the khaki uniforms of American soldiers escorting women and children onto the ships.
From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh
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.
