MEANING
1. To guide or escort someone into, through, or out of a place, often as part of a formal role.
2. To help bring in a new era, condition, or event; commonly used in the phrase “usher in.”
Use it for
Guide a person through a doorway, hall, or formal entrance.Describe a deliberate escort through a threshold, hall, or guarded entrance.
Words that belong together
- usher a guest in
- usher visitors into a hall
- usher someone out
- usher in an era
- usher in change
- usher in a new phase
On the page
The attendant ushered them into the gallery, then closed the doors behind them.
The new law ushered in a decade of uneasy reform.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Word forms
- Base
- usher
- Past tense
- ushered
- Past participle
- ushered
- Present participle
- ushering
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- usher
- Present continuous
- am/is/are ushering
- Present perfect
- have/has ushered
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been ushering
- Past
- ushered
- Past continuous
- was/were ushering
- Past perfect
- had ushered
- Past perfect continuous
- had been ushering
- Future
- will usher
- Future continuous
- will be ushering
- Future perfect
- will have ushered
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been ushering
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Usually takes a person or group as its object and may be followed by a place or a particle such as in or out. Sense 2: This extended sense is usually followed by “in”; the subject is framed as a catalyst for a transition.
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