1
: a sudden issuing of troops from a defensive position against the enemy
2
: one mission or attack by a single plane
3
b
: excursion, expedition
diving sorties
sortie
intransitive verb
sortied; sortieing
Synonyms
Examples of sortie in a Sentence
an occasional sortie to the city to rummage through some of its numerous used-book stores
Recent Examples on the Web
The first is China’s gray-zone coercion, which involves activities such as disinformation campaigns, election interference plots, and military provocations such as jet sorties that routinely cross the median line of the Taiwan Strait.
—
Jaushieh Joseph Wu, Foreign Affairs, 9 May 2024
During the rip, the National Guard was able to complete 143 Bambi Bucket sorties, which was roughly 95,000 gallons of water, according to an X post by the WV National Guard.
—USA TODAY, 23 Mar. 2024
Since Pelosi's visit, monthly sorties into the ADIZ have topped 200 four times, including a record 103 military aircraft in one day in September of this year.
—Michael Lee, Fox News, 23 Dec. 2023
This surge in Russian sorties presents Ukrainian air-defenders with more targets.
—David Axe, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024
See all Example Sentences for sortie 
Jaushieh Joseph Wu, Foreign Affairs, 9 May 2024
During the rip, the National Guard was able to complete 143 Bambi Bucket sorties, which was roughly 95,000 gallons of water, according to an X post by the WV National Guard.
—USA TODAY, 23 Mar. 2024
Since Pelosi's visit, monthly sorties into the ADIZ have topped 200 four times, including a record 103 military aircraft in one day in September of this year.
—Michael Lee, Fox News, 23 Dec. 2023
This surge in Russian sorties presents Ukrainian air-defenders with more targets.
—David Axe, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024
See all Example Sentences for sortie
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sortie.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Sortie.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sortie. Accessed 28 Jun. 2024.
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