accompany
Americanverb (used with object)
-
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
-
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
-
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:
Animations projected on the wall accompany the tapestry, zooming in on details and key events and characters in the artwork, which is replete with gore and drama.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
And things came full circle when Sir Paul was commissioned to design a T-shirt to accompany Bowie's final album Black Star.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Older mice often need more time to locate the platform, reflecting the decline in learning and memory that can accompany aging.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026
“But Mama, I think they want to arrest you. I can accompany you, but I don’t think it’s to interview you.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
I can hardly recall a time when Caroline was not playing the piano well enough to accompany herself while she sang.
From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson
Less than 72 hours later, she startled fans by announcing plans to step away from the spotlight—and the “endless, ongoing public scrutiny” that accompanies it—after wrapping her current tour.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 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
The charming smile that accompanies the statement catches Celia off guard, as she has rarely seen anything but varying degrees of reserved attentiveness or occasional nervousness on his countenance.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
He closed out his performance in a black T-shirt with gold sequined sleeves and a red pair of tartan trews, while a traditionally-dressed bagpiper accompanied the orchestra.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
This screening will be accompanied by a performance by Ballet Hispánico.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
"We don't have a choice. There can only be victory. We fight hard. We fight to win," added the president, who was accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
The findings were accompanied by an editorial from Professor Thomas Münzel of University Medical Center Mainz, Germany, and colleagues.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026
Gravely, the parents stepped over these, to show that they accompanied their daughter on her journey to womanhood.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
In the days leading up to Trump Jr.’s wedding, Kremlev was in China as part of the delegation accompanying Putin, according to Chinese state media.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
"By continually investing in our stores, our global online channel and our centralised logistics platforms, with an accompanying focus on sustainability, we will continue to generate long-term growth," the group said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
These housing projects are also one of the locations where Rosales posed with her family for the photos accompanying this profile.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
The market timers’ unseemly rush for the exits is illustrated in the accompanying chart of the average recommended equity exposure among a subset of short-term market timers who focus on the Nasdaq stock market.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
The illustration accompanying the late-thirteenth-century Theodoric of Freiberg’s study of the rainbow when it appeared in print in Trutfetter’s textbook of 1514.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
