escort
noun · verb
Simple meaning
An accompanying person in a social gathering.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ehskawrtSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɛsˈkɔɹt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
An accompanying person in a social gathering, etc.
A group of people or vehicles, generally armed, who go with a person or people of importance to safeguard them on a journey or mission.
Protection, care, or safeguard on a journey or excursion.
An accompanying person in such a group.
A guard who travels with a dangerous person, such as a criminal, for the protection of others.
A group of people attending as a mark of respect or honor.
verb
To go with someone as a partner, for example on a formal date.
To attend to in order to guard and protect; to accompany as a safeguard (for the person escorted or for others); to give honorable or ceremonious attendance to.
“She asked her older brother to escort her to the ball.”
To accompany (a person) in order to compel them to go somewhere (e.g. to leave a building).
intransitive
To work as an escort (sex worker).
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An accompanying person in a social gathering, etc.
Used this way, escort is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use escort
- “She asked her older brother to escort her to the ball.”verb
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Warship smaller than a destroyer.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to go with someone as a partner
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Keep learning “escort” by choosing the kind of practice you need next.
- Practice sentence writingWrite sentences with vocabulary and get instant feedback.
- Practice in contextAnswer short vocabulary questions drawn from real situations.
- Review vocabularyTest your recall and strengthen words over time.
- Practice typingType vocabulary in short rounds that draw from words you've learned and saved.
Want to type words like this one without looking at the keyboard? Each typing round draws from words you've learned, saved or need to review. Follow the free Learn to Type lessons and type your own vocabulary with confidence.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.