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.
Tour organisers have asked fans and unessential personnel to stay away from the final 40km and said that a motorcade of team vehicles that follows will now be kept to a minimum.
From BBC • Jul. 6, 2026
Voices were raised and the US group ended up pushing past the Chinese team to get to their vans in Trump’s motorcade before it left.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
Authorities cleared a path so Trump’s motorcade could swiftly make its way into the city from Beijing Capital International Airport.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026
"It's natural for human beings to disagree," said Maribeth Massie, of Maine, who watched the King's motorcade near the White House on Monday.
From BBC • Apr. 29, 2026
If Barack or I had a meeting in Blair House, located just across an already closed-off part of Pennsylvania Avenue, they’d sometimes request that we take the motorcade instead of walking in the fresh air.
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.
