mission

plural missions

1. countableA set of tasks that fulfills a purpose or duty; an assignment set by an employer, or by oneself.

   The supply convoy was on a mission of mercy.

2. countableuncountableA important goal or purpose; an objective.

   [She] made it her mission in life to make sure that no one around them would ever know the real truth. But this daughter of hers, she was a loose cannon, she was not someone to be trusted.[…]

   2008 October 16, Martina Cole, The Business: A compelling suspense thriller of danger and destruction, Headline, →ISBN

   1 more example

   The first page [of her CV] was a statement of her mission and role in life, which was to add the highest value in everything she undertook. On page two, we listed her primary governing values and operating principles. The third page listed her objectives[…]

   2013 September 30, Ratanjit, How Oneness Changes Everything: Empowering Business Through 9 Universal Laws, BalboaPress, →ISBN, page 213

3. countableA missionary expedition.
4. countablein pluraluncountable"the missions"Third World charities, particularly those which preach as well as provide aid.
5. countableCatholicismAn infrequent gathering of religious believers in a parish, usually part of a larger regional event with a central theme.
6. countableuncountableA number of people appointed to perform any service; a delegation; an embassy.

   [I]n either of theſe Ships, there ſhould be a Miſsion of three of the Fellowes, or Brethren of Salomons Houſe; [...]

   1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “New Atlantis. A Worke Vnfinished.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, pages 18–19

7. countableobsoleteuncountableDismissal; discharge from service
8. countableuncountableA settlement or building serving as a base for missionary work.

   Many cities across the Americas grew from Spanish missions.

9. Australiacountableuncountablebecoming obsoleteAn settlement predominantly inhabited by Indigenous Australians living in housing commission.
10. countableslanguncountabledrugsA drug run.
11. colloquialcountableuncountableAn ordeal; an difficult, trying task.

    I was thinking like meat, [you could use this wooden device to] tenderize a steak ... but not into a wooden box, 'cause it's gonna be a mission to clean.

    2025 July 30, Ben Ebbrell, Sorted Food, Can Antique Gadgets Handle Modern Cooking?, 18:23

present singular third person missions · participle present missioning · participle past missioned · past missioned

1. transitiveTo send on a mission.
2. intransitiveTo do missionary work, proselytize.
3. transitiveTo undertake an arduous or long task that requires substantial effort.

1. A district municipality of British Columbia, Canada.
2. A neighborhood of San Francisco.