refuge

1 of 2

noun

ref·uge ˈre-(ˌ)fyüj

also -(ˌ)fyüzh

Synonyms of refuge next

: shelter or protection from danger or distress

: a place that provides shelter or protection

: something to which one has recourse in difficulty

refuge

2 of 2

verb

refuged; refuging

transitive verb

: to give refuge to

intransitive verb

: to seek or take refuge

Did you know?

Finding Refuge

The re- in refuge means basically "back" or "backward" rather than "again;" thus, a refugee is someone who is "fleeing backward". Refuge tends to appear with certain other words: you generally "seek refuge", "take refuge", or "find refuge". Religion may be a refuge from the woes of your life; a beautiful park may be a refuge from the noise of the city; and your bedroom may be a refuge from the madness of your family.

Examples of refuge in a Sentence

Noun hunting is strictly forbidden in the wildlife refuge Verb a nation with a long, honorable history of refuging political asylum seekers

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Seeking refuge in nature is hardly new and need not be exclusive — why pay for it? —

Deborah Vankin, Los Angeles Times, 29 Nov. 2023 Over ten episodes, Adela matures, finding refuge in various places, experiencing loss, love, and even joining a women’s army. —

John Hopewell, Variety, 28 Nov. 2023 Hundreds of thousands of people from the north have sought refuge in the south. —

Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Magdy, The Christian Science Monitor, 26 Nov. 2023 There are also a number of civilians who have gathered there to seek refuge during the course of the conflict, and those lives need to be protected. —

Nbc Universal, NBC News, 19 Nov. 2023 The antisemitic rhetoric is all the more jarring because of the historically friendly relationship between Chinese and Jewish people, thousands of whom took refuge in China during World War II. —

Jennifer Jett, NBC News, 22 Nov. 2023 In the weeks that followed, thousands of people sought refuge at Egypt's Rafah crossing as Israeli retaliatory airstrikes pummeled Gaza, intensifying the humanitarian crisis there. —

Guy Davies, ABC News, 21 Nov. 2023 The competing claims could not be verified, but the departure of most of the patients and local residents who had taken refuge in the hospital seemed to herald an end to one of the grimmest chapters in the war so far. —

Loay Ayyoub, Washington Post, 18 Nov. 2023 Karl, who has taken refuge in a stall to cry in private, is interrupted by the voice next door asking for toilet paper. —

Condé Nast, The New Yorker, 17 Nov. 2023

Verb

Her students were in their own difficult circumstances, too – seeking refuge away from their homes, some in other countries. —

Kristina Hook, The Conversation, 9 Jan. 2023 Conservationists, refuge biologists and Pacific Foods, a local business, came up with an ambitious plan to remove the carp, truck them to nearby Burns, and process them into fertilizer. —

April Reese, Discover Magazine, 8 Feb. 2016 Migratory birds will also be attracted to the hedges and trees, which will give them refuge on their journeys. —

Karen Lubeck, Town & Country, 8 Nov. 2022 For one, an evacuation was not necessarily a path to refuge in the United States, as many expected. —

Abigail Hauslohner, Washington Post, 31 Aug. 2022 Targeted sanctions against the Kremlin and other state actors must be accompanied by support for those displaced by war, and the right to refuge must not be conditioned on one’s profession or degree of education. —

WIRED, 26 Aug. 2022 Cataño and Kammen say organizations like theirs are just Band-Aids that temporarily address the greater issue of lack of resources and access to refuge from heat. —

Rebecca Schneid, Los Angeles Times, 1 Aug. 2022 As the assault on Ukraine stretches into its second month, here’s what to know about Lviv, the Ukrainian city that’s become a pillar of support and refuge for a country at war. —

Washington Post, 27 Mar. 2022 Amid the flight to refuge, Ukraine and Russia are set to resume peace talks online Friday after limited progress in Istanbul earlier in the week. —

Washington Post, 25 Mar. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'refuge.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.