rescue
Americanverb (used with object)
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to free or deliver from confinement, danger, or difficulty: She rescued me from an awkward conversation.
The police were able to rescue the hostages in time.
She rescued me from an awkward conversation.
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Law. to liberate or take by forcible or illegal means from lawful custody.
noun
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the act of rescuing.
- Synonyms:
- emancipation, redemption, release, deliverance, liberation
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the act of rescuing animals from danger, abuse, or neglect, as the adoption of stray and abandoned animals from an animal shelter, or the protection of wild animals in an animal sanctuary.
Animal rescue requires cooperation between animal control agencies and shelters.
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a group or organization that participates in such animal welfare activities: breed-specific rescues.
your local rescue;
breed-specific rescues.
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a domestic animal adopted from an animal shelter or other animal welfare group.
Our new puppy is a rescue!
adjective
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of or relating to someone or something trained or equipped to rescue.
The county's three certified rescue dogs and their handlers searched for earthquake survivors in the rubble.
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of or relating to a domestic animal adopted or available for adoption from an animal shelter or other animal welfare group.
rescue puppies and kittens looking for loving families.
verb
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to bring (someone or something) out of danger, attack, harm, etc; deliver or save
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to free (a person) from legal custody by force
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law to seize (goods or property) by force
noun
-
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the act or an instance of rescuing
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( as modifier )
a rescue party
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the forcible removal of a person from legal custody
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law the forcible seizure of goods or property
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonrescuenoun
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rescuernoun
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quasi-rescuedadjective
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rescuableadjective
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rescuelessadjective
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unrescuableadjective
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unrescuedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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rescuesimple
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rescuessimple
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have rescuedperfect
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has rescuedperfect
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am rescuingprogressive
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are rescuingprogressive
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is rescuingprogressive
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have been rescuingperfect progressive
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has been rescuingperfect progressive
Past
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rescuedsimple
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had rescuedperfect
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was rescuingprogressive
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were rescuingprogressive
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had been rescuingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rescue
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English verb rescuen, from Old French rescourre, equivalent to re- + escourre “to shake, drive out, remove,” from Latin excutere ( ex- + -cutere, combining form of quatere “to shake”); see origin at re-, ex- 1
Explanation
When you rescue something, you save it from something bad — you come to the rescue. If Muffin, your kitten, is stuck in a tree, you can get out your ladder and climb up to rescue her. A rescue is a good thing, much appreciated by people (and kittens). If your house is in foreclosure, you'd be very grateful for the uncle who comes to your rescue by paying your mortgage. Whenever there's an earthquake or other disaster, rescue operations are quickly put in place to find survivors. You can use the word more casually, as in describing how you saunter over at a cocktail party and rescue your friend from a conversation with an insufferable bore.
Vocabulary lists containing rescue
Beowulf vocabulary
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"Enabling or Disabling?" and "This I Believe"
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"One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia, List 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Rosa, 56, refused to leave behind her two rescue cats in Robledo de Chavela.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
A couple who tried to rescue a mother and daughter who drowned have called for more life-saving equipment on the beach where they died.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Josh is a lecturer at the Allbritton Journalism Institute and the enthusiastic owner of a rambunctious rescue dog named Pepper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
Fire and rescue chief Marc Vermeulen said conditions were more severe than during the devastating fires that hit the region in 2022, with drought enabling the blaze to continue spreading through the night.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
“I’ll go on into town. There must be some sort of emergency headquarters. The Red Cross or the National Guard or someone must be coordinating rescue efforts.”
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
In Homer’s poem, the goddess Calypso rescues Odysseus from a shipwreck and keeps him on her island for seven years, even as he longs for Penelope and Ithaca.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
On one recent day alone, Newport Beach lifeguards made more than 100 rescues.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
There are fist fights, transportation issues and far too many bathroom breaks for the cyborg’s ridiculous human rescues.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
The critical window for rescues in these disasters usually closes after 72 hours, though a few people have miraculously been found alive this week.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
The gasoline, he said, helped them make the rescues they did.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
The students were rescued by the army hours after they were taken and generally, the authorities appear to have made recent inroads in their fight against armed gangs.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Nearly a week after being rescued near Big Bear Lake, Jackie — half of a celebrity bald eagle couple — remains in critical condition as veterinarians continue to puzzle over the cause of her maladies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
"We're on maximum alert. We're doing everything we can to get the situation under control," Rahman said, adding that the coast guard had rescued "618 trafficking victims" this year.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
Other figures have been rescued by the author from obscurity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
No one to rescue them the way they rescued Braviary.
From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers
Saar traces her habit of rescuing discarded materials to her childhood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
But chances of finding anyone alive beneath deep rubble dwindles rapidly after a critical 72-hour window for rescuing trapped people.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
The family of a three-year-old boy who was seriously injured after ending up in a crocodile enclosure have thanked zoo staff for rescuing their child.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
In 1983, at the behest of President Ronald Reagan, he chaired the bipartisan commission that was tasked with rescuing Social Security from financial collapse.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
But even if I’m not a hero, and you don’t need rescuing, I’d still love to come and see you, and the island—and, of course, Fred, Selkie, and Chica.
From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
