motorcade
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
noun
Etymology
Origin of motorcade
Explanation
A motorcade is a line of cars traveling together, usually slowly and ceremonially. If the President comes to town, you are bound to see a motorcade. When the President travels to give a speech, part of the trip usually occurs in a motorcade. In the case of a powerful person like a world leader, a motorcade is mainly made up of Secret Service agents providing security. A funeral motorcade is comprised of the cars of mourners, and sometimes a hearse carrying the deceased person's body. Motorcade borrowed -cade from cavalcade, a procession on horseback, turning it into a suffix in the early 1900s.
Vocabulary lists containing motorcade
Portmanteaus: Vocab Mash-Ups
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Before We Were Free
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Red, White & Royal Blue
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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:
No injuries were reported during the high-speed motorcade.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026
A White House press van reached 98 mph at one point as the motorcade traveled north toward Oklahoma, according to Reuters and CBS News.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026
Robert McDonald, a former high-ranking Secret Service agent with experience working on presidential security details, told the BBC that smaller-scale deceptions are used frequently during motorcade operations.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
The motorcade that will take attendees down the Croisette to the Palais where they will pose on Cannes’ famous red steps is coordinated with “military” precision, Cottray said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
Rather than riding in a motorcade, I was sometimes allowed to travel in an unmarked van and with a lighter security escort.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
As president, FDR motorcaded around the Coliseum floor in 1935, in Cecil B. DeMille’s car, whence he spoke to thousands there.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2022
We showered and changed in the Holly Hills locker room and motorcaded to dinner at the Jug Bridge seafood restaurant in Frederick, Md., a tasty roadhouse the Secret Service had selected.
From Golf Digest ● Apr. 28, 2020
After dinner, we motorcaded to Hagerstown, Md., and to the amazed elation of 3,500 people trooped into a Class AA baseball park to watch Hagerstown beat Harrisburg, 6-3.
From Golf Digest ● Apr. 28, 2020
A CBS News reporter said on Twitter that he saw Biden motorcading to a Rehoboth Beach fire station.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 4, 2022
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.
