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
An emergency incident involving a potential brake fire in another B-1 delayed our sortie by a little over an hour.
—
Jim Clash, Forbes.com, 27 Mar. 2025
Meanwhile, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry reported that a total of 11 Chinese balloons were detected flying over the island and the in the 24 hours to 6 a.m. on Friday.
5 sorties of PLA aircraft and 6 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today.
—Ryan Chan, Newsweek, 7 Mar. 2025
Tensions have remained high in recent years, with near-daily Chinese warplane sorties across the Taiwan Strait's median line and military exercises simulating blockades of the island.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 21 Mar. 2025
The sequence of sorties is simple, if the unnamed F-16 pilot’s explanation is accurate.
—David Axe, Forbes.com, 26 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sortie
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Jim Clash, Forbes.com, 27 Mar. 2025
Meanwhile, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry reported that a total of 11 Chinese balloons were detected flying over the island and the in the 24 hours to 6 a.m. on Friday.
5 sorties of PLA aircraft and 6 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today.
—Ryan Chan, Newsweek, 7 Mar. 2025
Tensions have remained high in recent years, with near-daily Chinese warplane sorties across the Taiwan Strait's median line and military exercises simulating blockades of the island.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 21 Mar. 2025
The sequence of sorties is simple, if the unnamed F-16 pilot’s explanation is accurate.
—David Axe, Forbes.com, 26 Mar. 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 2 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share