refuge Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a safe place
safety.
- He ran to safety
noun something or someone turned to for assistance or security
resort; recourse.
- his only recourse was the police
- took refuge in lying
noun a shelter from danger or hardship
asylum; sanctuary.
noun act of turning to for assistance
resort; recourse.
- have recourse to the courts
- an appeal to his uncle was his last resort

F. réfuge, L. refugium, fr. refugere to flee back; pref. re- + figere. SEe Fugitive.

Shelter or protection from danger or distress.
Rocks, dens, and caves! But I in none of these Find place or refuge. Milton.

We might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. Heb. vi. 18.
That which shelters or protects from danger, or from distress or calamity; a stronghold which protects by its strength, or a sanctuary which secures safety by its sacredness; a place inaccessible to an enemy.
The high hills are a refuger the wild goats. Ps. civ. 18.

The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed. Ps. ix. 9.
An expedient to secure protection or defense; a device or contrivance.
Their latest refuge Was to send him. Shak.

Light must be supplied, among gracefulrefuges, by terracing story in danger of darkness. Sir H. Wotton.
Syn. -- Shelter; asylum; retreat; covert.