refuge

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A state of safety, protection or shelter.

   Rocks, dens, and caves! But I in none of these / Find place or refuge.

2. 2
   noun

   A place providing safety, protection or shelter.

   One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.

3. 3
   noun

   Something or someone turned to for safety or assistance; a recourse or resort.

   Since its conception, the European Union has been a haven for those seeking refuge from war, persecution and poverty in other parts of the world.

4. 4
   noun

   An expedient to secure protection or defence.

   Their latest refuge / Was to send him.

5. 5
   verb

   To return to a place of shelter.

   Among these macaques, although activity cycles are quite variable from location to location, refuging is a common characteristic.

6. 6
   noun

   act of turning to for assistance

7. 7
   noun

   a shelter from danger or hardship

8. 8
   noun

   something or someone turned to for assistance or security

Etymology

From Middle English refuge, from Old French refuge, from Latin refugium, from re- + fugiō (“flee”). Doublet of refugium.