refuge
Americannoun
-
refuges
plural
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
-
shelter or protection, as from the weather or danger
-
any place, person, action, or thing that offers or appears to offer protection, help, or relief
accused of incompetence, he took refuge in lying
-
another name for traffic island
verb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of refuge
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin refugium, from refug(ere) “to turn and flee, run away” ( re- re- + fugere “to flee”; see fugitive) + -ium -ium
Explanation
To take refuge is to find a safe place. You might take refuge under a bridge in a hail storm, or in a basement during a tornado. Refuge comes from a French word meaning "to flee," and, in most cases, a refuge is a place to flee to in order to get away from people or places that are unsafe. A refuge is a safe place, such as a building or even another country, as in "they sought refuge from the war by leaving their homeland," or it is a simple, personal place of comfort — like a friend's couch.
Vocabulary lists containing refuge
The Star-Spangled Banner
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Persepolis
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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
They are mapping walking routes, identifying refuge sites, and helping residents and visitors recognize when they need to leave the coast immediately.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
Jamal Al-Mashraqi, an official overseeing work in Hodeida province's displacement camps, said the violence had pushed about 7,500 people to seek refuge in the Hays and Khokha districts alone.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
TELLURIDE, Colo. — For four days every Labor Day weekend, the Telluride Film Festival turns this tiny mountain town into something of a refuge from the outside world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
Some of the men had taken refuge there, protected by William Parker, who had also fled slavery in Maryland a dozen years earlier and established a new life in Christiana.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
She had heard of their arrival and she had taken refuge in Hera’s temple.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
"In the surrounding chalk grassland, they can discover how plants and insects cope with extreme heat, and why shade, varied vegetation and connected habitats can provide vital refuges for wildlife."
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Mobile home parks in Carson are among the last refuges of affordable housing for many residents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
Tehran's many parks, usually green lungs in a metropolis often choked by pollution, have become refuges since the fighting began.
From Barron's ● Apr. 2, 2026
Conditions are becoming even more challenging as warming temperatures allow mosquitoes and avian malaria to expand into higher elevation areas that once served as refuges for vulnerable native birds.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 11, 2026
A disturbing example of the latter seems to be building up on the national wildlife refuges at Tule Lake and Lower Klamath, both in California.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
“People are homeless, they have been refuged to the mountains.”
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 21, 2022
Exults on hearing, from his man Will., that the lady has refuged herself at Hampstead.
From Clarissa Harlowe; or the history of a young lady — Volume 5 by Samuel Richardson
Himself I refuged and his train relieved, 'Tis true, but am I sure to be received?
From Heathen Mythology by Various
The Serb students refuged in London had post cards printed of the murderer Princip, on which he was described as a national hero!
From Twenty Years Of Balkan Tangle by M. E. (Mary Edith) Durham
Harold said as clearly as I speak now, and he refuged himself on Hugh’s sound shoulder, and stretched out, and lay all still.’
From Rewards and Fairies by Rudyard Kipling
Debarred the healthier paths of life, man rushes for employment to the refuging muse; and rightly so, for he finds an employment ornamental and useful still.
From Fables of John Gay (Somewhat Altered) by John Gay
The long snug harbour of Mahon, which was in the days of canvas wings almost always filled with craft refuging, is now in this era of steam usually tenantless.
From The Recipe for Diamonds by Charles John Cutcliffe Wright Hyne
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.
