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

In the Sahara, a smuggler, a paleoanthropologist, and a man on a rescue mission cross paths. —Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 24 June 2025

David Herndon, search and rescue mission coordinator for the Coast Guard, said in a Sunday statement, which indicated that the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office had aided in responding to the incident. —Ethan Wolin, Sacbee.com, 23 June 2025

Things get a little messier whenever the film cuts back to Trailblazer headquarters in New York, where a crisis-control expert (Tony Goldwyn) puts together an elaborate rescue mission involving a heavily armed group of international mercenaries. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 16 June 2025

Scarsdale then bands together with airline owner Terry Hampton (Paul Ben-Victor) to organize a rescue mission involving a team led by Shellback (Remi Adeleke). —EW.com, 13 June 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