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sorties

 - 3 dictionary results

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.
Use sorties in a Sentence
Origin:
1680–90; < F, n. use of fem. ptp. of sortir to go out
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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sor·tie   (sôr'tē, sôr-tē')   
n.  

  1. An armed attack, especially one made from a place surrounded by enemy forces.

  2. A flight of a combat aircraft on a mission.

intr.v.   sor·tied, sor·tie·ing, sor·ties
To go on a sortie.

[French, from feminine past participle of sortir, to go out, from Old French.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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