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

Michael Wurster, the Coast Guard Sector New Orleans search and rescue mission coordinator, said in a statement. —Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 1 Dec. 2025

Pearce said that throughout his 42-year diving career, only one person had come out alive out of four different rescue missions at Tank Cave, per The Daily Telegraph. —Gabrielle Rockson, PEOPLE, 1 Dec. 2025

Thousands of police have been deployed to assist in search and rescue missions. —Mandy Taheri, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Nov. 2025

Chinese robotics firm Deep Robotics conducted a rescue mission drill, showcasing the utility and ability of its quadruped X30 robot dogs in dangerous situations. —Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 28 Nov. 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