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.
In June, Air Force Two landed in Butte, Montana, where Vice President JD Vance transferred to a motorcade of black SUVs that shuttled him south to a sprawling cattle operation near Yellowstone National Park.
From Salon • Dec. 4, 2025
Among the Lebanese and Vatican flags being waved as his motorcade drove from Beirut's airport, there were Hezbollah flags too.
From BBC • Nov. 30, 2025
I vividly recall New Yorkers applauding his motorcade that October as it passed through a worried city.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 4, 2025
A blizzard of blue confetti enveloped a motorcade of open-top buses ferrying players on a slow crawl through downtown Los Angeles, two days after the team's epic World Series win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
From Barron's • Nov. 3, 2025
The problem is that there’s no hiding a First Lady-sized motorcade, especially on the island of Manhattan in the middle of a weekday.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
