sortie

American  

[sawr-tee] / ˈsɔr ti /

noun

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

2. a body of troops involved in such a movement.

3. the flying of an airplane on a combat mission.

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verb (used without object)

sortied, sortieing

1. to go on a sortie; sally forth.

sortie British  

/ ˈsɔːtɪ /

noun

1. 1. (of troops, etc) the act of emerging from a contained or besieged position

   2. the troops doing this

2. an operational flight made by one aircraft

3. a short or relatively short return trip

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verb

1. (intr) to make a sortie

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."

Example Sentences

Their new short film, "La Grande Sortie," explores the transaction between a performer and her audience, as a ballerina slips between live-show tension and hallucinatory visions.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 19, 2015

"I came to La Grande Sortie while thinking about my personal experience with anticipation and anxiety in connection to important projects," Prager said in her directors' statement.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 19, 2015

Rembrandt did this much later than Holbein, when he painted the "Night Watch," or as it is more properly called, "The Sortie."

From Pictures Every Child Should Know A Selection of the World's Art Masterpieces for Young People by Bacon, Mary Schell Hoke

Sortie, sor′tē, n. the issuing of a body of troops from a besieged place to attack the besiegers.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

Sortie of the Civic Guard, Rembrandt, vi, 66.

From Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great - Volume 14 Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Musicians by Hubbard, Elbert

Related Words

• raid