(~s)
1.
If part of a country is declared a ~, people who need to escape from a dangerous situation such as a war can go there and be protected.
Countries overwhelmed by the human tide of refugees want ~s set up at once.
N-COUNT
2.
If a country provides ~ for people from another country who have been in danger, it allows them to stay there under its official protection. (AM)
Some Democrats support granting the Haitians temporary ~ in the US.
= asylum
N-UNCOUNT
3.
A ~ is a place, a situation, or an activity which provides people with an opportunity to escape from things that they find unpleasant or worrying.
...the idea of the family as a ~ from the brutal outside world.
N-COUNT: usu sing, oft N from n