escort
noun /ˈɛskɔːt 
/
/1A person, vehicle, or group accompanying another for protection or as a mark of rank: a police escort [mass noun]: he was driven away under armed escort...
- With two campaign buses and three press buses, accompanied by motorcycle escorts and vehicles full of secret service snipers, there is an enormous sense of occasion.
- A Mexican border town in the grip of a drug war plans to tempt tourists back with free bus tours, complete with armed police escorts.
- So with 2 players in each car we were given an armed escort (one military police jeep at the front of the convoy and one at the back) straight to the hotel.
Synonyms
guard, bodyguard, protector, safeguard, defender, minder, custodian;
attendant, guide, chaperone, retainer, aide, assistant, personal assistant, right-hand man, right-hand woman, lady in waiting, duenna, equerry, squire;
entourage, retinue, suite, train, cortège, attendant company, caravan;
protection, defence, convoy
1.1A man who accompanies a woman to a particular social event: Louise and her escort were given the best table...
- Marcus became my escort throughout the entire event.
- This time I was to be her date, her escort, her guest of honor.
- Next, my two bridesmaids and their escorts went down the aisle.
Synonyms
companion, partner, beau, attendant
informal date
1.2A person who may be hired to accompany someone to a social event: [as modifier]: an escort agency...
- To keep the family off his back, Rahul hires an escort to pose as his new-found fiancée.
- She hires a male escort named Nick to pose as her new fiancé and she savours the moment when she can show him off to her former one.
- In it she plays Kat, a woman who discovers that the best man at her sister's wedding is an old boyfriend and, rather than arrive without a man, hires a male escort to be her date.
Synonyms
paid companion, hostess;
male escort, gigolo;
in Japan geisha (girl);
in China sing-song girl
archaic courtesan
1.3 euphemistic A prostitute.Hi, my name is Charlene and I was just reading the classifieds in the back of the paper and I noticed that many prostitutes and escorts have the same name as me....
- This publication is just ads for local prostitutes, escorts, adult filmmakers and so on.
- Then there are the high-class prostitutes who can work from home or work as escorts; they charge higher fees and can live a lavish lifestyle.
verb /ɪˈskɔːt / /ɛˈskɔːt/ [with object]
/ /ɛˈskɔːt/ [with object]Accompany (someone or something) somewhere as an escort: he escorted her back to her hotel...
- He was escorted by armed guard to and from the plane at Barcelona airport.
- They were escorted by armed guards, but so many of them escaped that only half at most actually reached the site.
- As the guards were escorting him from the station he refused to leave.
Synonyms
conduct, accompany, guide, convoy, lead, usher, shepherd, take, direct, steer;
guard, protect, safeguard, defend
accompany, partner, take, bring, come with, go with, take out, go out with
Origin
Late 16th century (originally denoting a body of armed men escorting travellers): from French escorte (noun), escorter (verb), from Italian scorta, feminine past participle of scorgere 'to conduct, guide', based on Latin ex- 'out of' + corrigere 'set right' (see correct).