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Finding Refuge
The re- in refuge means basically "back" or "backward" rather than "again;" thus, a refugee is someone who is "fleeing backward". Refuge tends to appear with certain other words: you generally "seek refuge", "take refuge", or "find refuge". Religion may be a refuge from the woes of your life; a beautiful park may be a refuge from the noise of the city; and your bedroom may be a refuge from the madness of your family.
Synonyms
Examples of refuge in a Sentence
Annika Pham, Variety, 7 Apr. 2024
Most workers also ran to an underground shelter to seek refuge.
—Serhii Korolchuk, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024
Washington has in recent weeks been attempting to get Israel to call off a ground incursion into Rafah, a city on Gaza’s border with Egypt where more than 1.3 million people — more than half of the enclave’s population — are seeking refuge from the fighting.
—Joshua Berlinger, CNN, 1 Apr. 2024
Hamas and the hospital director said the facility was solely used as a refuge for civilians.
—Michael Levenson, New York Times, 1 Apr. 2024
Her past research has found that beavers create wildfire refuges: unburned or lightly crisped islands where plants and animals are able to survive amid flames.
—Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 1 Apr. 2024
With 20 parks and 10 bodies of water to its name, Paris is an unexpected green refuge for its residents and visitors.
—Rebecca Ann Hughes, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
In Rafah, Gaza's southernmost town on the Egyptian border town that has become the last refuge for half of Gaza's uprooted population, an Israeli air strike on a house killed seven people, health officials said.
—Nidal Al-Mughrabi, USA TODAY, 24 Mar. 2024
Initially, things had been calm in her Pétion-Ville neighborhood, Allen said, with family coming to seek refuge from the heavy gunfire.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 25 Mar. 2024
Kristina Hook, The Conversation, 9 Jan. 2023
Conservationists, refuge biologists and Pacific Foods, a local business, came up with an ambitious plan to remove the carp, truck them to nearby Burns, and process them into fertilizer.
—April Reese, Discover Magazine, 8 Feb. 2016
Migratory birds will also be attracted to the hedges and trees, which will give them refuge on their journeys.
—Karen Lubeck, Town & Country, 8 Nov. 2022
For one, an evacuation was not necessarily a path to refuge in the United States, as many expected.
—Abigail Hauslohner, Washington Post, 31 Aug. 2022
Targeted sanctions against the Kremlin and other state actors must be accompanied by support for those displaced by war, and the right to refuge must not be conditioned on one’s profession or degree of education.
—WIRED, 26 Aug. 2022
Cataño and Kammen say organizations like theirs are just Band-Aids that temporarily address the greater issue of lack of resources and access to refuge from heat.
—Rebecca Schneid, Los Angeles Times, 1 Aug. 2022
As the assault on Ukraine stretches into its second month, here’s what to know about Lviv, the Ukrainian city that’s become a pillar of support and refuge for a country at war.
—Washington Post, 27 Mar. 2022
Amid the flight to refuge, Ukraine and Russia are set to resume peace talks online Friday after limited progress in Istanbul earlier in the week.
—Washington Post, 25 Mar. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'refuge.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Noun
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin refugium, from refugere to escape, from re- + fugere to flee — more at fugitive
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
1594, in the meaning defined at transitive sense
Phrases Containing refuge
Articles Related to refuge
Dictionary Entries Near refuge
Cite this Entry
“Refuge.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/refuge. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
refuge
noun
More from Merriam-Webster on refuge
Nglish: Translation of refuge for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of refuge for Arabic Speakers
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