parade
Americannoun
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a large public procession, usually including a marching band and often of a festive nature, held in honor of an anniversary, person, event, etc.
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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.
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the assembly of troops for inspection or display.
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a place where troops regularly assemble for inspection or display.
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a continual passing by, as of people, objects, or events.
the parade of pedestrians past the office; the parade of the seasons.
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an ostentatious display.
to make a parade of one's religious beliefs.
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Chiefly British.
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a group or procession of promenaders.
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a promenade.
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Fortification. the level space forming the interior or enclosed area of a fortification.
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Fencing. a parry.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to march in a procession.
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to promenade in a public place, especially in order to show off.
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to assemble in military order for display.
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to assume a false or misleading appearance.
international pressure that parades as foreign aid.
noun
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an ordered, esp ceremonial, march, assembly, or procession, as of troops being reviewed
on parade
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Also called: parade ground. a place where military formations regularly assemble
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a visible show or display
to make a parade of one's grief
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a public promenade or street of shops
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a successive display of things or people
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the interior area of a fortification
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a parry in fencing
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to hinder someone's enjoyment; upset someone's plans
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on display
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showing oneself off
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verb
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to walk or march, esp in a procession (through)
to parade the streets
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(tr) to exhibit or flaunt
he was parading his medals
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(tr) to cause to assemble in formation, as for a military parade
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(intr) to walk about in a public place
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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paradernoun
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paradefuladjective
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paradelessadjective
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paradelikeadjective
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unparadedadjective
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paradinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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paradesimple
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paradessimple
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have paradedperfect
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has paradedperfect
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am paradingprogressive
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are paradingprogressive
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is paradingprogressive
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have been paradingperfect progressive
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has been paradingperfect progressive
Past
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paradedsimple
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had paradedperfect
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was paradingprogressive
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were paradingprogressive
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had been paradingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing parade
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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:
The attack took place several hundred metres away from the end of the tightly guarded CSD parade route and the event's main stage at Berlin's iconic Brandenburg Gate.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
And like that would be a fitting precursor for another championship parade.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
The parade was canceled, and authorities said they were searching for one or more suspects.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
The attack took place several hundred metres away from the end of the CSD parade route and the event's main stage at Berlin's iconic Brandenburg Gate.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
It was Seven’s favorite holiday, and she couldn’t believe that the Gran had asked them to be the honored witches during the traditional yearly parade.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
While many communities decided to light their bonfires on Saturday, some will light theirs on Sunday - on the eve of the parades.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence should be more than fireworks, parades and patriotic songs.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026
July 4 fell during a record-breaking heat wave that upended the parades, block parties and barbecues that traditionally mark Independence Day.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
Local historical societies scheduled town square readings of the Declaration of Independence, hired bands to play patriotic tunes, organized parades and set up themed baking contests.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
It was a tradition in our house to binge on bad disaster movies instead of football or parades.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
Mallard ducks and Canada geese have long made the reflecting pool home and paraded their young’uns through it in the spring and summer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
On the balcony of his house in Indonesia, Muhammad Yusuf swayed to blaring music and waved a replica of the World Cup trophy as hundreds paraded past, many decked out in Argentina's colours.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
“I don’t want to be paraded around and be a sideshow,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
He was paraded through Heathrow Airport with his wrists in shackles, and escorted onto a plane by two FBI agents.
From Slate ● Apr. 19, 2026
The animal paraded alongside them for some time before disappearing again.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
The dancers, costumed in their Saturday evening black-and-white vintage best, added to the parading splendor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
Viral videos of Knicks fans parading in front of Madison Square Garden started trending during each playoff game.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
Won’t it be teeth-grindingly annoying, at best, if more people start parading their green virtues?
From Slate ● May 15, 2026
Putin revived the old Soviet practice of parading heavy military hardware in Red Square in 2008 to demonstrate Russia's "growing defence capability".
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026
Each of the parading squadrons was graded as it marched past the reviewing stand, where a bloated colonel with a big fat mustache sat with the other officers.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
