accompany
Americanverb (used with object)
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accompanies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
accompanied,
past participle, past
-
accompanying
present participle
-
to go along or in company with; join in action.
to accompany a friend on a walk.
-
to be or exist in association or company with.
Thunder accompanies lightning.
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to put in company with; cause to be or go along; associate (usually followed bywith ).
He accompanied his speech with gestures.
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Music. to play or sing an accompaniment to or for.
verb (used without object)
-
accompanies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
accompanied,
past participle, past
-
accompanying
present participle
verb
-
(tr) to go along with, so as to be in company with or escort
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to supplement
the food is accompanied with a very hot mango pickle
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(tr) to occur, coexist, or be associated with
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to provide a musical accompaniment for (a performer)
Synonym Usage
Accompany, attend, convoy, escort mean to go along with someone (or something). To accompany is to go along as an associate on equal terms: to accompany a friend on a shopping trip. Attend implies going along with, usually to render service or perform duties: to attend one's employer on a business trip. To convoy is to accompany (especially ships) with an armed guard for protection: to convoy a fleet of merchant vessels. To escort is to accompany in order to protect, guard, honor, or show courtesy: to escort a visiting dignitary.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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accompanysimple
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accompaniessimple
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have accompaniedperfect
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has accompaniedperfect
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am accompanyingprogressive
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are accompanyingprogressive
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is accompanyingprogressive
-
have been accompanyingperfect progressive
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has been accompanyingperfect progressive
Past
-
accompaniedsimple
-
had accompaniedperfect
-
was accompanyingprogressive
-
were accompanyingprogressive
-
had been accompanyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of accompany
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English accompanye, from Middle French accompagnier; see ac-, company
Explanation
The verb accompany means to keep someone company, or to be their companion on a trip or journey. In a musical sense, accompany means to play background music for the lead singer or soloist. If you want your friend to keep you company on your way to the store, you could ask her to accompany you on the walk. Or, if you want your friend to play piano while you sing a song, you could ask her to accompany you on piano. Just don’t ask her to do both at the same time or your friend may not want to accompany you anywhere any longer.
Vocabulary lists containing accompany
The Circuit
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"Tribute to the Dog," Vocabulary from the speech
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"Lob's Girl" by Joan Aiken
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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:
It is also a live demonstration of Dixon’s argument: When the rules change midstream, confusion does not merely accompany the process.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
One approached insistently and said he was 14 years old and had come alone with no adults or older companions to accompany him.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
Published in the journal Antiquity, the findings challenge the belief that greater inequality must accompany economic growth.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 30, 2026
“I told him I didn’t remember if we had already discussed, but that she couldn’t accompany him on trips,” Manuel wrote in a previously unreported note on Aug. 29, 2024, handwritten on Michigan letterhead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
But the gloom of Lydia’s prospect was shortly cleared away; for she received an invitation from Mrs. Forster, the wife of the colonel of the regiment, to accompany her to Brighton.
From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
She often accompanies a group of nuns from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, where they deliver food and clothes to the homeless and drug addicts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
The tagline that accompanies the scene reads: "POV you're a childfree and single girl that has no friends and lives alone so this is how you spend your Friday night."
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Their second-highest payroll accompanies the league’s second-worst record.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
After she disappears yet again, Aviv accompanies Upp’s mother, herself no stranger to dissociation, as she vainly tracks her missing daughter — and connects instead with other lost women.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
I thought I would be exempt from the . . . depression . . . that accompanies a conscience.
From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
While the plane would later be accompanied by jet fighters in the air, according to White House aides, the aircraft would have been vulnerable as it took off under such a scenario.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The seven-sided abode features an interior court, private balconies, a catering-style kitchen with light gray cabinets and a dining nook, and a living room accompanied by glass walls and light-wood floors.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
From the moment Kinahan entered the dock, until he was led out 13 minutes later, almost everyone was looking towards him - and the proceedings were accompanied by constant typing from the press benches.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Visitors must be at least 6 years old, with those under 14 accompanied by an adult.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
The King of the Belgians alone was accompanied by a retinue of forty mice, and he was but one king among many.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
The accompanying chart puts these two fears in perspective.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
“If there’s a sudden wave of positive Brilliant Earth content on here, it might not be coincidental,” a moderator warned the Reddit community devoted to jewelry, accompanying the message with a siren emoji.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
The son of a boxing manager and a teacher, he spent much of his childhood accompanying his father to downtown boxing gyms and the Olympic Auditorium.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Regarding the child's behaviour, Porter Airlines said "attempts by the accompanying parent and crew to address this were unsuccessful".
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
As I shut it, Saint Paul’s, and all the many church-clocks in the City—some leading, some accompanying, some following—struck that hour.
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
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.
