sortie
Americannoun
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a rapid movement of troops from a besieged place to attack the besiegers.
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a body of troops involved in such a movement.
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the flying of an airplane on a combat mission.
verb (used without object)
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sorties,
present (3rd person singular)
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sortied,
past participle, past
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sortieing
present participle
noun
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-
(of troops, etc) the act of emerging from a contained or besieged position
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the troops doing this
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an operational flight made by one aircraft
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a short or relatively short return trip
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sortiesimple
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sortiessimple
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have sortiedperfect
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has sortiedperfect
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am sortieingprogressive
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are sortieingprogressive
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is sortieingprogressive
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have been sortieingperfect progressive
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has been sortieingperfect progressive
Past
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sortiedsimple
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had sortiedperfect
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was sortieingprogressive
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were sortieingprogressive
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had been sortieingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sortie
1680–90; < French, noun use of feminine past participle of sortir to go out
Explanation
When a group of soldiers is sent on a specific mission, it's called a sortie. A fighter pilot's sortie might involve a mission to drop a bomb on a target and return to base. When a fighting unit is deployed, heading out on a military mission, you can describe it as a sortie. A sortie might involve troops moving across a field toward their enemy, or a tank advancing on a city held by rebels. Sometimes a sortie involves a sudden surge or attack. In French, the word sortie literally means "a going out," from a Latin root, surgere, or "rise up."
Vocabulary lists containing sortie
National Spelling Bee '14: Prelims Round 2
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This Week in Words: May 11–17, 2019
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Tolkien Reading Day, List 6
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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:
Turk’s bad back makes it a brief sortie, but the attempt confirms that their friendship remains fundamentally intact.
From Salon ● Feb. 26, 2026
Air-superiority missions, for instance, would require them to sortie and remain “on station” in Taiwan’s vicinity for a time before returning, which isn’t viable from Guam, Heginbotham said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 29, 2025
River are all part of the perfect Sunday sortie for the ‘Animal Control’ star.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 2025
The RAF confirmed "a pylon" had detached itself from the RAF Coningsby-based Typhoon jet in Haisthorpe, near Bridlington, during a sortie on 18 January.
From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2025
And then a trumpet rang from the Citadel, and Denethor at last released the sortie.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
The two men often kept in touch about their sorties, but not this time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
It spent more than 200 days in a combat zone and launched more than 10,000 sorties, according to acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Indian air force helicopters flew several sorties rescuing hundreds of people, including foreign nationals.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026
Its air force has been flying thousands of sorties around the clock over Iran.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 16, 2026
"I need Balon Swann and the Hound to lead sorties, to make certain Stannis gets no toehold on our side of the Blackwater."
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
The ROK Air Force then sortied its fighters, including about 80 fifth-generation F-35As.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 4, 2022
She donned trousers, overcoat, slouch felt hat, a false-diamond stickpin and a false black mustache, and sortied into Mexican society.
From Time Magazine Archive
We had a fraternity office on campus from which we occasionally sortied out to class or, just as often, to the student lounge, where we tried to master the mambo.
From Time Magazine Archive
Japan's main fleet never again sortied in full force.
From Time Magazine Archive
When they came opposite the rock which had sheltered Johnny they sortied to see if that part of the mesa was guarded, but there was no sign of life upon it.
From Hopalong Cassidy by Clarence E. Mulford
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.
