sortie
part of speech
noun (a sortie, sorties)
meaning for a pupil
1) A sortie is a sudden attack made by soldiers rushing out from a place that is surrounded by enemies. tree →
2) A sortie is also one flight by a military aircraft on a mission. tree →
3) (informal, humorous) A sortie can mean a short trip out somewhere, like a sortie to the shops. tree →
sense in the lessons
In history lessons, defenders of a castle under siege made sorties to attack the besiegers. In news and stories about the Battle of Britain or air forces, pilots flew many sorties a day. In everyday humorous talk, a sortie is a quick outing. The word is French for "going out" (sortie = exit in French).
examples
- The defenders made a sortie from the castle at night. tree →
- The Spitfire pilots flew three sorties that day. tree →
- Each sortie lasted about an hour. tree →
- Mum made a quick sortie to the corner shop for milk. tree →
- The knights' sortie surprised the enemy camp. tree →
- (French) In France, "Sortie" on a sign means "Exit". tree →
- The plane returned safely from its sortie. tree →
note
Say "SOR-tee". Countable: sorties. It comes from French "sortir", to go out; in French, "sortie" on signs means exit — a false friend for English speakers who know only the military sense.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «sortie» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.