Real Dictionary

refuge
countable noun: A refuge is a place where you go for safety and protection, for example from violence or from bad weather.
uncountable noun: If you take refuge in a particular way of behaving or thinking, you try to protect yourself from unhappiness or unpleasantness by behaving or thinking in that way.
uncountable noun: If you take refuge somewhere, you try to protect yourself from physical harm by going there.

refuge in American English
shelter or protection from danger, difficulty, etc.
to give refuge to
intransitive verb: to take refuge
noun: shelter or protection from danger, trouble, etc
transitive verb: to afford refuge to

refuge in British English
noun: shelter or protection, as from the weather or danger