retreat vs sortie

retreat

noun
  • The act of pulling back or withdrawing, as from something dangerous, or unpleasant. 

  • A peaceful, quiet place affording privacy or security. 

  • The act of reversing direction and receding from a forward position. 

  • A bugle call or drumbeat signaling the lowering of the flag at sunset, as on a military base. 

  • A military ceremony to lower the flag. 

  • The move of a piece from a threatened position. 

  • A period of retirement, seclusion, or solitude. 

  • A period of meditation, prayer or study. 

  • A signal for a military withdrawal. 

  • Withdrawal by military force from a dangerous position or from enemy attack. 

verb
  • To slope back. 

  • To withdraw military forces 

  • To shrink back due to generally warmer temperatures. 

  • To withdraw from a position, go back. 

  • a retreating forehead 

sortie

noun
  • An act of venturing out to do a task, etc. 

  • An operational flight carried out by a spacecraft involving a return to Earth. 

  • An operational flight carried out by a single military aircraft. 

  • An attack made by troops from a besieged position; a sally. 

  • An act of trying to enter a new field of activity. 

  • An attacking move. 

  • Synonym of sally port (“an entry to or opening into a fortification to enable a sally”) 

  • A series of aerial photographs taken during the flight of an aircraft; (by extension) a photography session. 

verb
  • To carry out a sortie; to sally. 

How often have the words retreat and sortie occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )