rescue
UK /ˈɹɛs.kjuː/ · US /ˈɹɛs.kju/ verb, noun, proper noun
Forms rescues rescuing rescued
- verb To save from any violence, danger or evil. “The well-trained team rescued everyone after the avalanche.”
- verb To free or liberate from confinement or other physical restraint. “to rescue a prisoner from the enemy”
- verb To recover forcibly, especially from a siege.
- verb (figuratively) To remove or withdraw from a state of exposure to evil and sin. “Traditionally missionaries aim to rescue many ignorant heathen souls.”
- verb (figuratively) To achieve something positive under difficult conditions.
- verb (biology, genetics) To restore a particular trait in an organism that was lost or altered, especially where this loss was as the consequence of some experimental manipulation.
- verb To salvage and restore something that has been discarded. “I rescued a set of antique dining chairs.”
- verb To fix a mistake made while preparing something, especially in cooking. “The cook rescued the sauce after it began to curdle.”
- noun An act or episode of rescuing, saving.
- noun A liberation, freeing.
- noun (law, largely obsolete) The act of unlawfully freeing a person, or confiscated goods, from custody.
- noun The forcible ending of a siege; liberation from similar military peril. “The rescue of Jerusalem was the original motive of the Crusaders”
- noun A special airliner flight to bring home passengers who are stranded.
- noun A rescuee. “The dog was a rescue with some behavior issues.”
- proper noun A city in California.
Synonyms
free deliver pull out of the fire liberate release recapture retake redeem save deliverance delivery saving
Antonyms
endanger imperil arrest capture kidnap besiege corrupt deprave
Etymology
From Middle English rescouen, from Old French rescoure, rescurre, rescorre; from Latin prefix re- (“re-”) + excutere (“to shake or drive out”), from ex (“out”) + quatiō (“to shake”). Displaced native Old English nerian.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To free or deliver from any confinement, violence, danger, or evil; to liberate from actual restraint; to remove or withdraw from a state of exposure to evil; as, to rescue a prisoner from the enemy; to rescue seamen from destruction.
- noun The act of rescuing; deliverance from restraint, violence, or danger; liberation.
- noun (a) The forcible retaking, or taking away, against law, of things lawfully distrained.
Etymology [OE. rescopuen, OF. rescourre, rescurre, rescorre; L. pref. re- re- + excutere to shake or drive out; ex out + quatere to shake. See Qtash to crush, Rercussion.]
Etymology [From Rescue, v.; cf. Rescous.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “rescue”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details