1
: a sudden issuing of troops from a defensive position against the enemy
2
: one mission or attack by a single plane
3
b
: excursion, expedition
diving sorties
sortie
intransitive verb
sortied; sortieing
Examples of sortie in a Sentence
an occasional sortie to the city to rummage through some of its numerous used-book stores
Recent Examples on the Web
From February through August, total PLA sorties exceeded 495, a figure unmatched during that same period in 2023 or 2024.
—
Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Oct. 2025
Cochrane flew two sorties, one with Ben and Michael, another with Ray and Ben’s father.
—Ted Katauskas, Outside, 23 Sep. 2025
Prickly concedes that getting video of a hit often requires a second sortie, sometimes three or four.
—Tamar Jacoby, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
Chinese air force sorties may encroach farther on Taiwan’s territorial airspace, and ships may close in on the island’s territorial seas, raising the risk of collisions or misperceptions of Chinese intent among Taiwan’s defenders.
—Joel Wuthnow, Foreign Affairs, 12 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sortie
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Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Oct. 2025
Cochrane flew two sorties, one with Ben and Michael, another with Ray and Ben’s father.
—Ted Katauskas, Outside, 23 Sep. 2025
Prickly concedes that getting video of a hit often requires a second sortie, sometimes three or four.
—Tamar Jacoby, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
Chinese air force sorties may encroach farther on Taiwan’s territorial airspace, and ships may close in on the island’s territorial seas, raising the risk of collisions or misperceptions of Chinese intent among Taiwan’s defenders.
—Joel Wuthnow, Foreign Affairs, 12 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sortie
Cite this Entry
“Sortie.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sortie. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
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