sortie

[ sawr-tee ]

/ ˈsɔr ti /

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noun

a rapid movement of troops from a besieged place to attack the besiegers.

a body of troops involved in such a movement.

the flying of an airplane on a combat mission.

verb (used without object), sor·tied, sor·tie·ing.

to go on a sortie; sally forth.

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Origin of sortie

1680–90; <French, noun use of feminine past participle of sortir to go out

Words nearby sortie

sorta, sortal, sortation, sort code, sorted, sortie, sortilege, sorting, sorting tracks, sortition, sort out

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use sortie in a sentence

Beijing is already sending air and naval sorties close to Taiwan territory with alarming frequency.
Inside the Taiwan Firm That Makes the World’s Tech Run|Charlie Campbell|October 1, 2021|Time
That’s appropriate, as its agents here are engaged in a kind of war, flying constant sorties against enemy forces that could spread illness across these subtropical islands if left unchecked.
Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Have Come to the U.S. Will They Work?|Alejandro de la Garza / Florida Keys, Fl.|May 9, 2021|Time
My grandfather, his father, was a WW1 ace and was on the sortie which downed the Red Baron.
The Story Behind This Photo of an RAF Pilot|David Frum|March 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Lieutenant-Colonel Abercromby, who had led the only serious sortie from Yorktown, chewed his sword in impotent rage.
Washington in Victory|Piers Brendon|October 10, 2008|DAILY BEAST

Many ladies do not like to display their "sortie du soire" before a crowded room, and you will be keeping their escort waiting.
The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness|Florence Hartley
By September the enemy had opened their trenches round Perpignan, and Prignon was entrusted with a night sortie.
Napoleon's Marshals|R. P. Dunn-Pattison
Bonaparte attacked Valetta, in Malta, and in a sortie the Maltese lost the standard of their order.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
But the garrison made a sortie, seized the towers, destroyed them, and killed or captured the soldiers who manned them.
Belgium|George W. T. (George William Thomson) Omond
In a sortie Bohemond the crafty and brave was wounded; Tancred's and Godfrey's valor ended in repulse.
God Wills It!|William Stearns Davis

British Dictionary definitions for sortie

sortie

/ (ˈsɔːtɪ) /

noun

(of troops, etc) the act of emerging from a contained or besieged position
the troops doing this

an operational flight made by one aircraft

a short or relatively short return trip

verb -ties, -tieing or -tied

(intr) to make a sortie

Word Origin for sortie

C17: from French: a going out, from sortir to go out

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

sortie

Origin of sortie

Words nearby sortie

Words related to sortie

How to use sortie in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for sortie

Word Origin for sortie