a group or committee of persons sent to a foreign country to conduct negotiations, establish relations, provide scientific and technical assistance, or the like.
the business with which such a group is charged.
any important task or duty that is assigned, allotted, or self-imposed.
Our mission is to find the child a safe home.
an important goal or purpose that is accompanied by strong conviction; a calling or vocation.
She has finally found her mission in life.
a sending or being sent for some duty or purpose.
those sent.
Also called foreign mission. a permanent diplomatic establishment abroad; embassy; legation.
Military. an operational task, usually assigned by a higher headquarters.
a mission to bomb the bridge.
Aerospace. an operation designed to carry out the goals of a specific program.
a space mission.
Also called foreign mission. a group of persons sent by a church to carry on religious work, especially evangelization in foreign lands, and often to establish schools, hospitals, etc.
an establishment of missionaries in a foreign land; a missionary church or station.
a similar establishment in any region.
the district assigned to a missionary.
missionary duty or work.
an organization for carrying on missionary work.
Also called rescue mission. a shelter operated by a church or other organization offering food, lodging, and other assistance to needy persons.
missions, organized missionary work or activities in any country or region.
a church or a region dependent on a larger church or denomination.
a series of special religious services for increasing religious devotion and converting unbelievers.
to preach a mission.
of or relating to a mission.
(usually initial capital letter) noting or pertaining to a style of American furniture of the early 20th century, created in supposed imitation of the furnishings of the Spanish missions of California and characterized by the use of dark, stained wood, by heaviness, and by extreme plainness.
a specific task or duty assigned to a person or group of people
their mission was to irrigate the desert
a person's vocation (often in the phrase mission in life )
a group of persons representing or working for a particular country, business, etc, in a foreign country
a special embassy sent to a foreign country for a specific purpose
a permanent legation
a group of people sent by a religious body, esp a Christian church, to a foreign country to do religious and social work
the campaign undertaken by such a group
the work or calling of a missionary
a building or group of buildings in which missionary work is performed
the area assigned to a particular missionary
the dispatch of aircraft or spacecraft to achieve a particular task
a church or chapel that has no incumbent of its own
a charitable centre that offers shelter, aid, or advice to the destitute or underprivileged
(modifier) of or relating to an ecclesiastical mission
a mission station
a long and difficult process
(modifier) (of furniture) in the style of the early Spanish missions of the southwestern US
First recorded in 1590–1600; 1925–30 mission for def. 8; from Latin missiōn-, stem of missiō “dismissal,” literally, “a sending,” equivalent to miss(us) (past participle of mittere “to send”) + -iō -ion
A mission is a special quest, one that involves more effort than, say, a trip to the corner store. If you were to drive all around the state searching garage sales for porcelain cats, you could say you were on a mission. Mission comes from a Latin word that means “to send.” It was first used by Jesuit missionaries who sent members of their order overseas to establish schools and churches. Foreign travel is still associated with the word. When diplomats and humanitarian workers travel abroad, we often refer to those trips as missions.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Central Command wrote in a statement that it completed a five-hour mission against the country, targeting coastal defense systems, missile and drone sites and the regime’s maritime resources.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
She laughed recalling how Hamawy returned to Gaza on another medical mission after all of her efforts to help get him out.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
"Accelerating our Moon mission ordering cadence and launch opportunities enable us to move quickly to learn, iterate, and improve."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
But it is very hard to see past France's sheer attacking brilliance, with Kylian Mbappe on a mission and others such as Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise and Desire Doue backing him up.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
His entire life had built toward this mission.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
The woman was pronounced dead at Mission Hospital, according to Patch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Iran’s Mission to the U.N. didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Iran’s Mission to the United Nations didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
In Mission Hills, firefighters put out a blaze after several cypress trees caught fire, torching two vehicles and raging close to homes, after 9 p.m., according to the LAFD.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026
Velutha was fourteen when Johann Klein, a German carpenter from a carpenter’s guild in Bavaria, came to Kottayam and spent three years with the Christian Mission Society, conducting a workshop with local carpenters.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
Starship's enormous payload capacity and planned rapid reuse make it well suited for ambitious projects such as lunar bases, Mars missions, and massive satellite constellations.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026
It also called for broadly expanding the functions and missions of the General Reconnaissance and Intelligence Bureau, Pyongyang's military intelligence agency tasked with operations involving South Korea.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
Cuba currently has about 24,000 medical workers deployed globally, said Maria Werlau, director of Cuba Archive, which closely tracks labor abuses in the missions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
In an effort to fill the gap, Allied officials said, European nations have now committed all of their new fighter aircraft to NATO’s defense instead of holding some back for their national missions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Philip Caputo, the young lieutenant who had led his platoon on some of the earliest combat missions in Vietnam, walked into his executive officer’s tent at U.S.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
