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)
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
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has sortiedperfect 3rd person singular
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have sortiedperfect
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am sortieingprogressive 1st person singular
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is sortieingprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been sortieingperfect progressive
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has been sortieingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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are sortieingprogressive
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sortieingparticiple
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sortiessingular 3rd person
Past
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had sortiedperfect
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had been sortieingperfect progressive
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was sortieingprogressive singular
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were sortieingprogressive plural
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sortiedparticiple
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sortiedsimple
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.
“The near-zero sortie counts seen on some days since February should be viewed as an extreme manifestation of a longer-term trend, rather than a sudden development,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026
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 Marshal Brar felt that bond first-hand, flying his last sortie out of the northern city of Chandigarh just two days before his retirement in July 2000.
From BBC • Sep. 24, 2025
River are all part of the perfect Sunday sortie for the ‘Animal Control’ star.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 7, 2025
“Not a very well organized initial sortie for the invincible horde. Our chaps took the wind out of their sails, what?”
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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.
