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

Belkin works from more than 2,500 hours of archival footage to rewind to the aborted 1970 mission that would have been the third Moon landing, but became a rescue mission to return to Earth safely. —Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 3 June 2026

Authorities said that the four survivors came out on their own Saturday, May 30, as workers were pumping out water from the cave system and divers prepared to launch a rescue mission, CBS News, CNN and the BBC reported. —David Chiu, PEOPLE, 1 June 2026

Back at the mine site, the rescue mission remains incomplete. —Kocha Olarn, CNN Money, 31 May 2026

Meanwhile, operations for the three remaining climbers have transitioned from a search-and-rescue mission to a recovery effort, the agency said. —Anthony Thompson, USA Today, 30 May 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