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

The gear was wrapped around the pectoral flipper and across the whale’s back through the mouth area, and multiple rescue missions were unsuccessful, the post said. —Paloma Chavez, Sacbee.com, 17 Oct. 2025

In the aftermath of the storm, officials launched one of the state's largest rescue missions in recent history. —Christopher Cann, USA Today, 16 Oct. 2025

Set in the aftermath of Fidel Castro’s Cuban revolution, Pedro Pan dramatizes one of the largest child rescue missions in modern history. —Matt Grobar, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2025

Her disappearance sparked a viral rescue mission, with thousands of Richmond residents and cat lovers across the world rallying online to help bring her back. —Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025

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