Nearby Words

sortie

[sawr-tee] Origin

sor·tie

[sawr-tee] noun, verb, -tied, -tie·ing.
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.
verb (used without object)
4.
to go on a sortie; sally forth.

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

Sortie is one of our favorite verbs.
So is lollygag. Does it mean:
to spend time idly; loaf.
to bark; yelp.

Origin:
1680–90; < French, noun use of feminine past participle of sortir to go out
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To sortie
Collins
World English Dictionary
sortie (ˈsɔːtɪ)
 
n
1.  a.  (of troops, etc) the act of emerging from a contained or besieged position
 b.  the troops doing this
2.  an operational flight made by one aircraft
3.  a short or relatively short return trip
 
vb , -ties, -tieing, -tied
4.  (intr) to make a sortie
 
[C17: from French: a going out, from sortir to go out]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

sortie
"attack of the besieged upon the besiegers," 1778, from Fr. sortie, lit. "a going out," noun use of fem. pp. of sortir "go out," from O.Fr., "to go out, escape," from V.L. *surctire, from pp. of L. surgere "rise up" (see surge).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature