sortie

noun

sor·​tie ˈsȯr-tē 

sȯr-ˈtē

1

: a sudden issuing of troops from a defensive position against the enemy

2

: one mission or attack by a single plane

3

a

: foray, raid

b

: excursion, expedition

diving sorties

sortie intransitive verb

sortied; sortieing

Synonyms

• excursion
• jaunt
• junket
• outing
• ramble
• sally
• sashay
• spin

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

Demonstrating the leverage of stealth, the F-117—the first operational stealth attack aircraft—flew less than two percent of the total combat sorties during Desert Storm, but struck over 40 percent of the target base. —David A. Deptula, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024

The first aerial sorties went up at midnight on Bastille Day, July 14. —Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2024

If those troops or pilots got themselves into trouble, NATO member states bordering Ukraine would come under considerable pressure to fly air defense sorties out of their own bases to assist European forces in Ukraine. —Shane Croucher, Newsweek, 1 Dec. 2024

Meanwhile, Israeli planes have made frequent sorties over Syria and even bombed Houthi infrastructure in Yemen, more than 1,000 miles away. —Shalom Lipner, Foreign Affairs, 25 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

French, from Middle French, from sortir to go out, leave

First Known Use

1778, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

sortie

noun

sor·​tie ˈsȯrt-ē 

sȯr-ˈtē

: a sudden rushing out of troops from a position of defense against the enemy : sally

sortie verb