(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
A ~ is an important task that people are given to do, especially one that involves travelling to another country.
Salisbury sent him on a diplomatic ~ to North America...
...the most crucial stage of his latest peace ~.
N-COUNT: usu with supp
2.
A ~ is a group of people who have been sent to a foreign country to carry out an official task.
...a senior member of a diplomatic ~.
= delegation
N-COUNT: usu with supp
3.
A ~ is a special journey made by a military aeroplane or space rocket.
...a bomber that crashed during a training ~ in the west Texas mountains.
...the first shuttle ~.
N-COUNT: usu supp N
4.
If you say that you have a ~, you mean that you have a strong commitment and sense of duty to do or achieve something.
He viewed his ~ in life as protecting the weak from the evil...
= vocation
N-SING: usu poss N, also n of N
5.
A ~ is the activities of a group of Christians who have been sent to a place to teach people about Christianity.
They say God spoke to them and told them to go on a ~ to the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
N-COUNT