Adjacent Words

Escort definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ES'CORT, n. A guard; a body of armed men which attends an officer, or baggage; provisions or munitions conveyed by land from place to place,to protect them from an enemy, or in general, for security. [This word is rarely, and never properly used for naval protection or protectors; the latter we call a convoy. I have found it applied to naval protection, but it is unusual.]
ESCORT', v.t. To attend and guard on a journey by land; to attend and guard any thing conveyed by land. General Washington arrived at Boston, escorted by a detachment of dragoons. The guards escorted Lord Wellington to London.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: someone who escorts and protects a prominent person [syn: bodyguard, escort]
2: the act of accompanying someone or something in order to protect them [syn: escort, accompaniment]
3: an attendant who is employed to accompany someone
4: a participant in a date; "his date never stopped talking" [syn: date, escort] v
1: accompany as an escort; "She asked her older brother to escort her to the ball"
2: accompany or escort; "I'll see you to the door" [syn: see, escort]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle French escorte, from Italian scorta, from scorgere to guide, from Vulgar Latin *excorrigere, from Latin ex- + corrigere to make straight, correct — more at correct Date: 1579 1. a. (1) a person or group of persons accompanying another to give protection or as a courtesy (2) the man who goes on a date with a woman b. a protective screen of warships or fighter planes or a single ship or plane used to fend off enemy attack from one or more vulnerable craft 2. accompaniment by a person or an armed protector (as a ship) II. transitive verb Date: 1708 to accompany as an escort

U.S. Military Dictionary

(*) 1. A combatant unit(s) assigned to accompany and protect another force or convoy. 2. Aircraft assigned to protect other aircraft during a mission. 3. An armed guard that accompanies a convoy, a train, prisoners, etc. 4. An armed guard accompanying persons as a mark of honor. 5. (DOD only) To convoy. 6. (DOD only) A member of the Armed Forces assigned to accompany, assist, or guide an individual or group, e.g., an escort officer.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 one or more persons, vehicles, ships, etc., accompanying a person, vehicle, etc., esp. for protection or security or as a mark of rank or status. 2 a person accompanying a person of the opposite sex socially. --v.tr. act as an escort to. Etymology: F escorte, escorter f. It. scorta fem. past part. of scorgere conduct

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Escort Es*cort", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Escorted; p. pr. & vb. n. Escorting.] [Cf. F. escorter, It. scortare. See Escort, n.] To attend with a view to guard and protect; to accompany as safeguard; to give honorable or ceremonious attendance to; -- used esp. with reference to journeys or excursions on land; as, to escort a public functionary, or a lady; to escort a baggage wagon. Syn: To accompany; attend. See Accompany.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Escort Es"cort, n. [F. escorte, It. scorta a guard or guide, fr. scorgere to perceive, discern, lead, fr. L. ex out, quite + corrigere to correct, set right. See Correct.] 1. A body of armed men to attend a person of distinction for the sake of affording safety when on a journey; one who conducts some one as an attendant; a guard, as of prisoners on a march; also, a body of persons, attending as a mark of respect or honor; -- applied to movements on land, as convoy is to movements at sea. The troops of my escort marched at the ordinary rate. --Burke. 2. Protection, care, or safeguard on a journey or excursion; as, to travel under the escort of a friend.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(escorted) 1. An escort is a person who travels with someone in order to protect or guard them. He arrived with a police escort shortly before half past nine. N-COUNT • If someone is taken somewhere under escort, they are accompanied by guards, either because they have been arrested or because they need to be protected. ...a group being taken under police escort to the city outskirts. PHRASE: PHR after v 2. An escort is a person who accompanies another person of the opposite sex to a social event. Sometimes people are paid to be escorts. My sister needed an escort for a company dinner. N-COUNT 3. If you escort someone somewhere, you accompany them there, usually in order to make sure that they leave a place or get to their destination. I escorted him to the door... VERB: V n prep/adv

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Convoy, guard, conduct. 2. Protection, safeguard, safe-conduct. 3. Attendance, company. II. v. a. 1. Convoy (by land), guard, protect. 2. Attend (as a guard of honor), conduct. 3. Attend (in courtesy), accompany, wait upon.

Moby Thesaurus

accompany, attend, attendant, bear, beau, bodyguard, boyfriend, bring, carry, cavalier, chaperon, cicerone, companion, company, conduct, conductor, consort with, convoy, cortege, date, direct, duenna, entourage, esquire, fellow, fellow traveler, gallant, gentleman-at-arms, guard, guardian, guards, guardsman, guide, lead, leader, marshal, pilot, praetorian guard, protect, protection, protector, retinue, route, safe-conduct, safeguard, see, shepherd, show, squire, steer, swain, take out, usher, vis-a-vis, wait on, watch over, yeoman