Rendezvous

Full Definition of RENDEZVOUS

1

a : a place appointed for assembling or meeting

b : a place of popular resort : haunt

2

: a meeting at an appointed place and time

3

: the process of bringing two spacecraft together

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But last July's rendezvous between the space shuttle Atlantis and the Russian Mir space station took place in a brand-new climate: the cold war is over, and budgets on both sides of the world are tight. —Fred Guterl, Discover, January 1996
The hokeyness and childlike innocence of the scene … were endearing, in a Lost Boys sort of way, and I strolled over to the student-activities center for my rendezvous with my cadet informant thinking that The Citadel's version of martial culture was not so menacing after all. —Susan Faludi, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 1994
Although roadside retreats have long been the haunt of individuals seeking discreet settings for an afternoon or evening rendezvous, the adult motel advertises and caters to a specific clientele. —William Wyckoff, Geographical Review, July 1992
I was delighted to witness a rendezvous of about 60 cavers, who had come from as far as California, New York and even Switzerland, united in a common purpose. —David Roberts, Smithsonian, November 1988
He left the car at Thirteenth Street, and might easily call at this hotel. It is a general rendezvous for visitors to the city. —Horatio Alger, The Errand Boy, 1888
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Middle French, from rendez vous present yourselves

First Known Use: 1582

intransitive verb

: to meet or come together at a particular time and place: come together for a rendezvous (see ¹rendezvous)

transitive verb

1

: to bring together at a particular time and place : bring together for a rendezvous

2

: to meet at a rendezvous

See rendezvous defined for English-language learners

Despite a stuck antenna, the Galileo spacecraft successfully rendezvoused with the asteroid Gaspra last October, coming within 1,000 miles and snapping 150 photos for NASA's scrapbook. —Linda Shiner, Air & Space Smithsonian, February/March 1992
Grabbing an extra suit of clothes and leaving the rest of his possessions on board with instructions to rendezvous the next day, he and his companions set off. —Ross E. Dunn, The Adventures of Ibn Battuta, 1986
His two ships were separated in the fog, but rendezvoused according to plan in Dusky Bay in southwest New Zealand to pass the southern winter. —Daniel J. Boorstin, The Discoverers, 1983
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