rescue mission

noun

plural rescue missions

1

: a city religious mission (see mission entry 1 sense 4a) providing social and spiritual assistance to the poor and needy

The nonprofit, Christian-based rescue mission has provided a variety of social services to the poor and homeless over its 55-year history.

—Janet Lavelle

also : the premises of a rescue mission

I used to go quite often to Charleston, West Virginia to speak in the old rescue mission …

—Lee Roberson

2

: an undertaking to rescue someone or something from a dangerous or difficult situation

They kept him alive that way for more than twenty-four hours, waiting for a helicopter rescue mission that came too late.

—Jamie James

After a 12-hour rescue mission, navy personnel were able to tow the animal safely to land.

—Brigit Katz

Examples of rescue mission in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Most 'dangerous' national parks Kühl's analysis was based on seven criteria, including total deaths, missing people, search and rescue missions, park ranger presence, proximity to hospitals, trail alerts and visitor data all from National Park Service websites and Google maps. —Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 22 June 2026

Without a rescue mission, Swift would crash to Earth by the end of this summer. —Tariq Malik, Space.com, 19 June 2026

The Swift rescue mission had to launch before the end of June. —Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 19 June 2026

However, that is changing thanks to advances in launchers and robotics that make a rescue mission feasible. —David Szondy june 18, New Atlas, 18 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1879, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for rescue mission

• abolition
• acquisition
• admonition
• ammunition
• apparition
• apposition
• coalition
• competition
• composition
• definition
• deglutition
• demolition