noun

• 1The state of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or difficulty.

  ‘he was forced to take refuge in the French embassy’

  More example sentences

  • ‘I sought refuge in drink’
  • ‘He said he accepted she was one of life's inadequates who sought refuge in drink and was prone to self-harm.’
  • ‘Angola is relatively urbanized because in the 1980s many people sought refuge in the safer urban areas.’
  • ‘This was not difficult, given that less than 15 per cent of people sought refuge in public shelters or tube stations.’
  • ‘The deportation of an asylum seeker who sought refuge in Bolton has been halted following the intervention of MP David Crausby.’
  • ‘While the rest of us were toiling in Pattaya, a small group sought refuge in the mountain retreat of Soi Dao.’
  • ‘That was probably why he was often haunted by spells of melancholia and dark thoughts and often sought refuge in books.’
  • ‘Thousands of people have sought refuge in army bases and police stations.’
  • ‘Smoke could be seen billowing from many parts of the city where thousands of Madurese have sought refuge in military compounds and government offices.’
  • ‘Needless to say, I sought refuge in a discussion of the weather.’
  • ‘Since then, half the country's more than 3 million people have sought refuge in the capital, Monrovia.’
  • ‘International law says that seeking refuge from persecution is not a crime.’
  • ‘They have simply sought refuge from persecution: they are refugees.’
  • ‘More than 30,000 people are reported to have died and nearly 400,000 civilians sought refuge across the border in Ethiopia.’
  • ‘We are only travellers taking temporary refuge in this life and body.’
  • ‘However, the cunning female kept dodging them, taking temporary refuge in the grounds of Fermoy Soccer Club.’
  • ‘But the Convention only provides refuge from state persecution.’
  • ‘But one most often sought refuge in sanctuaries.’
  • ‘However, most of the residents preferred to stay home instead of taking refuge elsewhere.’
  • ‘He was given refuge in Libya by his long time ally, Colonel Gaddafi.’

  Synonyms

  refuge, haven, safe haven, shelter, sanctuary, retreat, asylum, place of safety, place of security, port in a storm, oasis, sanctum

  View synonyms

  1. 1.1count noun A place or situation providing safety or shelter.
     ‘the family came to be seen as a refuge from a harsh world’
     More example sentences

     • ‘In my younger and more vulnerable years, I believed school offered a gentle refuge from the cutthroat savagery of the working world.’
     • ‘Upland's owners bought and renovated the hotel three years ago, as a refuge from a high-powered life in the capital city.’
     • ‘For many of these young MPs the canteen is proving a refuge from the long-drawn speeches and verbal duels in the House.’
     • ‘In the novel, a young housemaid named Griet innocently entrances Vermeer who comes to see her as a sacred refuge from a soulless marriage.’
     • ‘After all, home and family should provide a refuge from the clamor of the outside world.’
     • ‘But this bar is a great refuge from the madness of weekend London.’
     • ‘Mothers were torn between their need to support the discipline of their sons and their desire to provide a refuge from the harshness of that discipline.’
     • ‘The pine-shaded forest is a refuge from the city's extreme summer temperatures.’
     • ‘' Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel ', pronounced Samuel Johnson in 1775.’
     • ‘Well, the Senate today narrowly approved a plan to drill for oil in Alaska's arctic national wildlife refuge.’
     • ‘I led the fight to stop the drilling in the Arctic wildlife refuge.’
     • ‘There was kind of a coup, and he took temporary refuge in the United States.’
     • ‘Absolute moral standards provide a safe refuge for those frightened to exercise discretion.’
     • ‘Does Eden offer a refuge from the world or the wisdom to accept it?’
     • ‘To learn more about Banerjee and his time in the Arctic refuge, click here.’
     • ‘In the late 15th century, the city became a refuge for Iberian Jews expelled by Phillip II from Spain.’
     • ‘Researchers found that the forest offered a refuge for bee species, which helped pollinate coffee plants.’
     • ‘Churches have become the only refuge for people who have lost everything.’
     • ‘Instead she buried herself in the library, which became a refuge from the decadent student world.’
     • ‘For hundreds of years Turkey was a refuge for Jews driven from " civilised " Christian Europe.’
     Synonyms

     shelter, protection, safety, security, asylum, sanctuary

     sanctuary, place of shelter, shelter, place of safety, haven, safe haven, sanctum, safe house, harbour, port in a storm, ark

     View synonyms
  2. 1.2count noun An institution providing safe accommodation for women who have suffered violence from a spouse or partner.
     ‘Women are flocking to refuges and violent partners are moving back into the family home following the outlawing of temporary barring orders, according to women's aid groups.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘For many years Bendigo-based Julie Oberin was Chair of the Women's Services Network, the peak body for women's domestic violence services, including refuges.’
     • ‘She said its aims were to encourage more women to report violent incidents in the home and to reverse the trend whereby women and children had little option but to flee to refuges and temporary accommodation.’
     • ‘She appealed to the government to raise the profile of refuges for victims of violence and helplines.’
     • ‘The Family Law Act 1996 protects victims of domestic violence and their children, and there are safe refuges and on-going support for families getting away from violent situations.’
     • ‘I was involved in a single-issue campaign - domestic violence and women's refuges - but that didn't mean that I thought politics was about single issues.’
     • ‘Over time, physical conditions in the East Anglian refuges have improved and accommodation is no longer squalid and over-crowded.’
     • ‘Given the prevalence of domestic violence, women's refuges are essential facilities.’
     • ‘She moved in with Young as a teenager and the couple had three children, but she fled to a woman's refuge after suffering violent beatings.’
     • ‘The issue of domestic violence and the absence of a refuge for women who want to escape abusive partners in Sligo was raised.’
     • ‘While police and magistrates take punitive action to try to stop physical assaults, and refuges provide a safe haven for women and children trying to escape violence, curing such violence is not easy.’
     • ‘Through our social centres, soup runs, hostels, refuges, detox centres, community cafes, day care and residential homes, we get through a lot of tea and coffee.’
     • ‘There is also a network of refuges, in every county except Carlow, some transitional accommodation in Waterford and some limited outreach and settlement support services.’
     • ‘And if their ‘crime’ was to donate 4,000 pairs of footwear to the workhouses, women's refuges and orphanages of war-torn Kosovo, then it was guilty as charged.’
     • ‘He said there are only five emergency hostels and refuges in Dublin providing a total of 50 units for families.’
     • ‘Women's refuges, local hospices and day centres are also members of the Scrapstore.’
     • ‘In investigating domestic violence, it is tempting for academics to speak to only those more easily accessible women who are resident in refuges, rather than other victims.’
     • ‘Thus, women's refuges were among the first projects to have been realised.’
     • ‘Given the prevalence of domestic violence, women's refuges are essential facilities.’
     • ‘Children at the York women's refuge were facing a bleak Christmas.’
  3. 1.3British count noun A traffic island.
     ‘There, roads are generally free of cycle lanes, red or green painted patches, pedestrian refuges, traffic islands, widened pavements for cycle use and silly speed limits.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Traffic calming proposals included the creation of a central refuge at the west end of the village to help elderly people cross the road.’
     • ‘‘There are likely to be central pedestrian refuges up to 1.8 metres wide,’ said planning officer Sian Watson.’
     • ‘What we are looking at is either traffic lights or possibly a roundabout, because a traffic island and refuge would only benefit car users and not public transport.’
     • ‘Raised medians at the centre of the carriageway could also serve as pedestrian refuges.’
     • ‘This will be impossible if there is a pedestrian refuge in the middle of the road.’