I. sor ‧ tie 1 /ˈsɔːti $ ˈsɔːrti/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: French ; Origin: sortir 'to go out' ]
1 . a short flight made by a plane over enemy land, in order to bomb a city, military defences etc:
The US and its allies carried out 44,000 sorties during this period.
2 . a short trip, especially to an unfamiliar place:
We made a sortie from our hotel to the open-air market.
3 . British English an attempt to do or take part in something new
sortie into
Australia’s first sortie into the wine trade
4 . British English an attack in which an army leaves its position for a short time to attack the enemy
II. sortie 2 BrE AmE verb [intransitive]
to make a short attack on an enemy position or a flight over enemy land:
It was five months since the battleship had last sortied from home waters.