escorts

Noun

escort (plural escorts)

1. 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.
   • The soldier who was pulling at the other end was clumsily unhorsed, and I myself was all but thrown by the unexpected jerk. This ludicrous incident at first provoked mirth among my escort, a mirth which their superstitious minds immediately turned into an ill omen.1898, Arnold Henry Savage Landor, chapter LXXXIII, in In the Forbidden Land
2. An accompanying person in such a group.
   • The waves being so high when we and the escorts, which stayed about one quarter mile to each side and ahead of us, were in a trough at the same time and we were unable to see one another.1980, Ernest L. Secrest, chapter 9, in My 1102 Days of W.W. II
3. A guard who travels with a dangerous person, such as a criminal, for the protection of others.
4. A group of people attending as a mark of respect or honor.
5. An accompanying person in a social gathering, etc.
   • "He'd come in for something to eat—the red-bearded one. We had quite a chat. I told him we were traveling like Stevenson—with a donkey; but that one of the ladies had an abscess on a tooth and was going home. He said it was no place for women and offered himself as an escort."1921, Mary Roberts Rinehart, chapter 5, in More Tish
6. Protection, care, or safeguard on a journey or excursion.
   • "I went home with Hester Paine, last evening, from writing school. Just as she had accepted my escort, Halbert came up, and in a condescending way, informed her that he would see her home."1874, Horatio Alger, chapter 2, in Brave and Bold

See all 11 meanings of escort