an exploratory survey or examination, as in seeking out information about enemy positions or installations, or as in making a preliminary geologic or engineering survey
Origin of reconnaissance
Fr, earlier reconnoissance: see recognizance
The specialized group of soldiers went on reconnaissance to gather intel for a future mission.
Reconnaissance is preliminary research or a preliminary survey such as checking out the lay-of-the-land before taking a military action.
An example of reconnaissance is when the military has a mission to go to an area and survey the enemy positions.
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"reconnaissance." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/reconnaissance>.
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reconnaissance. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/reconnaissance
reconnaissance
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"reconnaissance." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/reconnaissance>.
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reconnaissance. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/reconnaissance
reconnaissance
also re·con·nois·sance
noun
An inspection or exploration of an area, especially one made to gather military information.
Origin of reconnaissance
French from Old French reconoissance recognition from reconoistre reconoiss- to recognize ; see recognize .THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"reconnaissance." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/reconnaissance>.
APA Style
reconnaissance. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/reconnaissance
Noun
(countable and uncountable, plural reconnaissances)
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"reconnaissance." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/reconnaissance>.
APA Style
reconnaissance. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/reconnaissance
Sentence Examples
- Grant directed the offensive reconnaissance of Belmont in the autumn.
- On the 30th of June Sir Henry Lawrence ordered a reconnaissance in force from Lucknow, which met the enemy at Chinhat; but the native sepoys and artillerymen turned traitors, and Sir Henry was forced to retreat to the residency, where the siege now began.
- Agassiz, "A Reconnaissance of the Bahamas and of the Elevated Reefs of Cuba in the steam yacht ` Wild Duck,' January to April 1893," Bull.
- A final reconnaissance was made on the 5th.
- The mission of Sir Francis Younghusband to Lhasa in 1904 resulted in an extension of the Indian system of triangulation which finally determined the geographical position of that city, and in a most valuable reconnaissance of the valleys of the Upper Brahmaputra and Indus by Captains C. H.
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Words near reconnaissance in the dictionary
- reconnaissance
- reconnect
- reconnectable
- reconnected