usher

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. One who is employed to escort people to their seats, as in a theater, church, or stadium.
2. n. A man who attends a bridal party at a wedding.
3. n. One who serves as official doorkeeper, as in a courtroom or legislative chamber.
4. n. An official whose duty is to make introductions between unacquainted persons or to precede persons of rank in a procession.
5. n. Archaic An assistant teacher in a school.
6. v. To serve as an usher to; escort.
7. v. To lead or conduct. See Synonyms at guide.
8. v. To precede and introduce; inaugurate: a celebration to usher in the new century.
9. v. To serve as an usher: ushered every Sunday at church.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. An officer or servant who has the care of the door of a court, hall, chamber, or the like; a doorkeeper; hence, one who meets people at the door of a public hall, church, or theater, and escorts them to seats; also, an officer whose business it is to introduce strangers or to walk before a person of rank. In the royal household of Great Britain there are four gentlemen ushers of the privy chamber, together with gentlemen ushers daily waiters, gentlemen ushers quarterly waiters, etc.
2. n. An under-teacher, or assistant to a school-master or principal teacher.
3. n. One of certain British geometrid moths. Hybernia leucophearia is the spring usher.
4. To act as an usher to; attend on in the manner of an usher; introduce as forerunner or harbinger; forerun; precede; announce: generally followed by in, forth, etc.

Wiktionary

1. n. A person, in a church, cinema etc., who escorts people to their seats.
2. n. A male escort at a wedding.
3. n. A doorkeeper in a courtroom.
4. v. To guide people to their seats.
5. v. To accompany or escort (someone).
6. v. figuratively To precede; to act as a forerunner or herald.
7. v. figuratively, transitive to lead or guide somewhere

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. An officer or servant who has the care of the door of a court, hall, chamber, or the like; hence, an officer whose business it is to introduce strangers, or to walk before a person of rank. Also, one who escorts persons to seats in a church, theater, etc.
2. n. An under teacher, or assistant master, in a school.
3. v. To introduce or escort, as an usher, forerunner, or harbinger; to forerun; -- sometimes followed by in or forth.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. take (someone) to their seats, as in theaters or auditoriums
2. n. an official stationed at the entrance of a courtroom or legislative chamber
3. n. Irish prelate who deduced from the Bible that Creation occurred in the year 4004 BC (1581-1656)
4. n. someone employed to conduct others