convoy

¹con·voy

transitive verb \ˈkän-ˌvȯi, kən-ˈ\

Definition of CONVOY

: accompany; especially : to escort for protection

Examples of CONVOY

1. The tankers were convoyed by warships.
2. Police and FBI agents convoyed the President to the White House.

Origin of CONVOY

Middle English, from Middle French convoier, from Old French conveier, from Vulgar Latin *conviare — more at convey

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to CONVOY

Synonyms

attend, chaperone (or chaperon), companion, company, accompany, escort, see, squire

Related Words

walk; associate, consort, pal (around), team (up); defend, guard, protect; bring, conduct, guide, lead, pilot, steer, usher; follow, shadow, tag, tag along, tail; hang (around), hover (over)

Near Antonyms

abandon, desert, ditch, dump, forsake

Other Military Terms

bivouac, logistics, petard, salient, sally, supernumerary, tactical

Rhymes with CONVOY

ahoy, alloy, annoy, bad boy, ball boy, batboy, B-boy, beachboy, bellboy, bell buoy, best boy, big boy, bok choy, borzoi, boy toy, busboy, callboy, carboy, charpoy, choirboy, cowboy, decoy, deploy, destroy, doughboy, employ, enjoy, envoy, flyboy, footboy, Hanoi, hautbois, highboy, homeboy, houseboy, killjoy, Khoikhoi, life buoy, linkboy, lowboy, McCoy, newsboy, old boy, page boy, playboy, plowboy, po'boy, postboy, potboy, Quemoy, Rob Roy, Saint Croix, Savoy, schoolboy, sepoy, stock boy, tallboy, tatsoi, teapoy, Tolstoy, tomboy, travois, viceroy

²con·voy

noun \ˈkän-ˌvȯi\

Definition of CONVOY

1

: one that convoys; especially : a protective escort (as for ships)

2

: the act of convoying

3

: a group convoyed or organized for convenience or protection in moving

Examples of CONVOY

1. a long convoy of trucks
2. The President always travels in a convoy.

First Known Use of CONVOY

1523

Other Military Terms

bivouac, logistics, petard, salient, sally, supernumerary, tactical

convoy

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Vessels sailing under the protection of an armed escort. Since the 17th century, neutral powers have claimed the right of convoy in wartime, providing warships to escort their merchantmen and keep them secure from search or seizure. In World War I the British organized transatlantic convoys protected by a cordon of warships; the same system protected Allied shipping from German submarines during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. During the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88), oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz into and out of the Persian Gulf were escorted by warships of the U.S. and other Western navies.