parade

American  

[puh-rayd] / pəˈreɪd /

noun

• parades
  plural

1. a large public procession, usually including a marching band and often of a festive nature, held in honor of an anniversary, person, event, etc.

2. a military ceremony involving the formation and marching of troop units, often combined with saluting the lowering of the flag at the end of the day.

3. the assembly of troops for inspection or display.

4. a place where troops regularly assemble for inspection or display.

5. a continual passing by, as of people, objects, or events.

   the parade of pedestrians past the office; the parade of the seasons.

6. an ostentatious display.

   to make a parade of one's religious beliefs.

7. Chiefly British.

   1. a group or procession of promenaders.

   2. a promenade.

8. Fortification. the level space forming the interior or enclosed area of a fortification.

9. Fencing. a parry.

---

verb (used with object)

• parades,
  present (3rd person singular)
• paraded,
  past participle,  past
• parading
  present participle

1. to walk up and down on or in.

2. to make parade of; display ostentatiously.

   Synonyms:

   flourish, flaunt, show

   Antonyms:

   conceal

3. to cause to march or proceed for display.

verb (used without object)

• parades,
  present (3rd person singular)
• paraded,
  past participle,  past
• parading
  present participle

1. to march in a procession.

2. to promenade in a public place, especially in order to show off.

3. to assemble in military order for display.

4. to assume a false or misleading appearance.

   international pressure that parades as foreign aid.

parade British  

/ pəˈreɪd /

noun

1. an ordered, esp ceremonial, march, assembly, or procession, as of troops being reviewed

   on parade

2. Also called: parade ground. a place where military formations regularly assemble

3. a visible show or display

   to make a parade of one's grief

4. a public promenade or street of shops

5. a successive display of things or people

6. the interior area of a fortification

7. a parry in fencing

8. to hinder someone's enjoyment; upset someone's plans

9. 1. on display

   2. showing oneself off

---

verb

1. to walk or march, esp in a procession (through)

   to parade the streets

2. (tr) to exhibit or flaunt

   he was parading his medals

3. (tr) to cause to assemble in formation, as for a military parade

4. (intr) to walk about in a public place

parade Idioms  

1. see hit parade; rain on one's parade.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• parader
  noun
• paradeful
  adjective
• paradeless
  adjective
• paradelike
  adjective
• unparaded
  adjective
• paradingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• parades
  plural

Participles

• parading
  present
• paraded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• parade
  simple
• parades
  simple
• have paraded
  perfect
• has paraded
  perfect
• am parading
  progressive
• are parading
  progressive
• is parading
  progressive
• have been parading
  perfect progressive
• has been parading
  perfect progressive

Past

• paraded
  simple
• had paraded
  perfect
• was parading
  progressive
• were parading
  progressive
• had been parading
  perfect progressive

Future

• will parade
  simple
• will have paraded
  perfect
• will be parading
  progressive
• will have been parading
  perfect progressive

---

Etymology

Origin of parade

1650–60; < French, Middle French < Spanish parada a stop, stopping place, noun use of feminine of parado, past participle of parar to stop, end < Latin parāre to set. See compare, parry, -ade ¹

---

Explanation

A parade is a group of people marching in ceremony, celebration, or protest. Often a parade involves fire trucks, costumed adults throwing candy to children, baton twirlers, and members of the armed forces. Parade is also a verb, meaning to walk or march ostentatiously. When your sister first brings home her prom dress, she might parade around the living room after putting it on so everyone can see it. As a noun parade is an event in which a whole lot of people march in the streets — they could be wearing prom dresses, but more likely they're celebrating of a holiday or taking part in a military action.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

parade parades paraded parading

Mercury will be the hardest planet to spot in the parade.

From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2026

Nvidia is raining on what just a day ago was a tech-stock parade.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2026

Los Angeles would have erupted into a parade — and I would have marched across the border to reunite with my family.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2026

While Day of the Dead is a centuries-old tradition in Mexico, its parade in the capital is a newer addition -- with thanks to Bond, James Bond.

From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2026

The gilded gates of Buckingham Palace fell open that morning to the stately parade of the Queen and all her mighty court.

From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck

Then, following a legal challenge brought by a member of the Orange Order, a High Court quashed that decision in August and a parades commissioner resigned.

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

For Edman, that’s two Octobers and two parades.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

She said she had taken her mother to Disneyland a while back, and her mother enjoyed watching the parades in person, but also enjoys videos of Disney parades.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

A residents group in Portadown has accused the Orange Order of putting their community "through hell" with parades.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

Oh, he was first in line for the victory parades, as soon as the guns were put away.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

Traditional drums, accompanied by more modern, plastic vuvuzelas, kept the energy high in the stadium after supporters had paraded through Kaduna city and danced along the streets the day before.

From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2026

Hundreds of Orangemen paraded through the town centre, joined by bands and a crowd of supporters who were not deterred by the stormy weather.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

The King's Baton was then paraded around the Hydro by swimmer Hannah Miley and para-cycling great Neil Fachie.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

Minutes earlier, the players paraded around Azteca Stadium — traditionally an impenetrable fortress — to applaud El Tri fans with tears in their eyes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026

The British army paraded up Broadway the next day, cheered by Loyalists all wearing a red ribbon or flower in their hats in support of the King.

From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson

You may remember the orbiter itself or the 154-foot orange fuel tank parading slowly through L.A.’s streets to reach their new home, in 2012 and 2016, respectively.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

While peaceful, the stalemate has reopened what was once the most bitter parading dispute in Northern Ireland.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

The Portadown District has maintained a presence at Drumcree Church after talks to end the parading dispute ended without agreement on Thursday.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

But that’s a lot of big ifs stuffed into a trenchcoat, parading around social media as an inevitability.

From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026

It was hard not to look at the fighting men parading before them and wonder which of them was destined to face the ferocious beast in the ring before the show was over.

From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• brandish
• demonstrate
• flash
• prance
• strut
• swagger
• trot out

---