chaperone

play

noun chap·er·one \ ˈsha-pə-ˌrōn \

variants: or less commonly chaperon

Definition of chaperone

1 :a person (such as a matron) who for propriety (see propriety 4) accompanies one or more young unmarried women in public or in mixed company

2 :an older person who accompanies young people at a social gathering to ensure proper behavior; broadly :one delegated to ensure proper behavior

I was a chaperone on one of my son's class trips.

3 :any of a class of proteins (such as heat-shock proteins) that facilitate the proper folding of proteins by binding to and stabilizing unfolded or partially folded proteins — called also molecular chaperone

See chaperone defined for English-language learners

See chaperone defined for kids

Examples of chaperone in a Sentence

I was a chaperone on one of my son's school trips.

Recent Examples of chaperone from the Web

Beamer was driving 26 students, two teachers, and a parent chaperone from Philadelphia’s C.W. Henry School on May 15 for a field trip to Washington D.C. when the bus crashed.

— jason laughlin, Philly.com, "Driver in bus crash that injured dozens of Philly school kids charged," 30 Aug. 2017
As the competition was wrapping up Tuesday, their chaperone discovered his kids were missing.

— matthew barakat, The Seattle Times, "Burundi robotics teens may have ‘self-initiated’ vanishing," 21 July 2017
As the competition was finishing Tuesday, their chaperone discovered his kids were missing.

— matthew barakat, chicagotribune.com, "Burundi robotics teens may have 'self-initiated' vanishing," 21 July 2017
On Thursday, a member of the Burundian embassy told The Associated Press that Burundi officials had no prior knowledge of the team’s attendance at the competition until the chaperone contacted the embassy about the students’ disappearance.

— aria bendix, The Atlantic, "Burundi Robotics Team Goes Missing," 20 July 2017
GOLAN HEIGHTS — Quietly, over the last year, hundreds of sick Syrian children and their chaperones have been whisked across enemy lines at dawn for treatment at clinics in Israel, slipping back home after dark.

— isabel kershner, New York Times, "Israeli Aid Gives an Unexpected ‘Glimmer of Hope’ for Syrians," 20 July 2017
MLB paid for all expenses for each national qualifier and chaperone.

— jim varsallone, miamiherald, "Juarez, Tyson win MLB Jr. Home Run Derby in Miami," 8 July 2017
Weatherspoon's mother later seized his cellphone and found a text message exchange with the accuser that the chaperone shared with police, according to the arrest documents.

— ken daley, NOLA.com, "Jefferson teen accused of raping girl, 15, at CBD hotel party," 5 July 2017
While Optimus Prime drifts through outer space in search of his ancestral home planet of Cybertron, his nemesis Megatron has vanished, leaving mankind and metalkind to duke it out without chaperones.

— justin chang, latimes.com, "'Transformers: The Last Knight' is Michael Bay's robot-orgy swan song," 20 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'chaperone.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of chaperone

French chaperon, literally, hood, from Medieval French, head covering, from chape

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1720

See Words from the same year

chaperone

verb

variants: or less commonly chaperon

Definition of chaperone

chaperoned; chaperoning

transitive verb

1 :escort

2 :to act as chaperone to or for

chaperone a dance

chaperoning teenagers

intransitive verb

:to act as a chaperone

Two parents chaperoned at the school dance.

—

chaperonage

play \-ˌrō-nij\ noun

See chaperone defined for English-language learners

Examples of chaperone in a Sentence

Two parents chaperoned the children.
My mom always chaperoned the school dances.

Recent Examples of chaperone from the Web

Hughes told FP Santangelo, a 27-year-old outfielder, to watch after Brady and chaperone him for the day, because the Expos wanted to sign this guy.

— tim rohan, The MMQB, "That Time a 17-Year-Old Tom Brady Borrowed Ken Griffey Jr.’s Jersey," 10 July 2017
TMZ reports that the Toronto rapper flew in to chaperone his second cousin Jalaah Moore and her date to the dance at Fairley High School, making a stylish entrance by ordering them a white Rolls Royce.

— peter helman, Billboard, "Drake Crashed a Prom in Memphis," 15 May 2017
Troop 939 leader Siobahn Hickey, of Lake Forest, will help chaperone the group of sixth- to 10th- graders.

— nathan percy, Orange County Register, "These Orange County kids say why they’re going to Trump’s inauguration," 19 Jan. 2017

Origin and Etymology of chaperone

see ¹chaperone

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1796

See Words from the same year

chaperone Synonyms

Synonyms

attend, accompany (or chaperon), companion, company, convoy, 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

CHAPERONE Defined for English Language Learners

chaperone

play

noun

Definition of chaperone for English Language Learners

: someone (such as a teacher or parent) who goes with children on a trip or to a school dance to make sure that the children behave properly
: a person in the past who went with a young unmarried woman to social events in order to make sure that the woman behaved properly

chaperone

verb

Definition of chaperone for English Language Learners

: to be a chaperone to or for (someone or something)

CHAPERONE Defined for Kids

chaperone

noun chap·er·one

variants: or chaperon \ˈsha-pə-ˌrōn\

Definition of chaperone for Students

:a person who goes with and is responsible for a group of young people

chaperone

verb

variants: or chaperon

Definition of chaperone for Students

chaperoned; chaperoning

:to go with and supervise a group of young people :act as a chaperone

Several parents chaperoned the school dance.

Medical Dictionary

chaperone

play

noun chap·er·one \ ˈshap-ə-ˌrōn \

variants: or chaperone protein

medical Definition of chaperone

:any of a class of proteins (such as heat shock proteins and chaperonins) that facilitate the proper folding of proteins by binding to and stabilizing unfolded or partially folded proteins

As the proteins are produced, molecules called chaperones fold them into the three-dimensional form they are supposed to take.
—Andres M. Lozano et al., Scientific American,, July 2005

— called also molecular chaperone