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

That sets off a rescue mission — and also creates dangerous shifts in present-day reality. — Jasmine Vojdani, Vulture, 4 Aug. 2026

And in 2022, Japanese researchers turned a Madagascar hissing cockroach into a cyborg for search-and-rescue missions using a similar, though more sophisticated, approach. — ArsTechnica, 3 Aug. 2026

Two firefighting helicopters working to gain control of a major wildfire in Greece collided in midair on Sunday, prompting a search-and-rescue mission for flight crew members, two of whom were killed, authorities said. — Dada Jovanovic, ABC News, 2 Aug. 2026

By Thursday, July 30, authorities had shifted the effort from a rescue mission to a recovery operation as crews continued looking for Dulan. — Anthony Thompson, USA Today, 1 Aug. 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