hurry

American  

[hur-ee, huhr-ee] / ˈhɜr i, ˈhʌr i /

verb (used without object)

hurried, hurrying

1. to move, proceed, or act with haste (often followed byup ).

   Hurry, or we'll be late. Hurry up, it's starting to rain.

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verb (used with object)

hurried, hurrying

1. to drive, carry, or cause to move or perform with speed.

   Synonyms:

   hasten

2. to hasten; urge forward (often followed byup ).

   Synonyms:

   hustle, expedite, quicken, accelerate

   Antonyms:

   slow, delay

3. to impel or perform with undue haste.

   to hurry someone into a decision.

noun

plural

hurries

1. a state of urgency or eagerness.

   to be in a hurry to meet a train.

2. hurried movement or action; haste.

   Synonyms:

   ado, bustle, quickness, speed, dispatch, expedition, celerity

   Antonyms:

   deliberation

hurry British  

/ ˈhʌrɪ /

verb

1. to hasten (to do something); rush

2. to speed up the completion, progress, etc, of

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noun

1. haste

2. urgency or eagerness

3. informal

   1. easily

      you won't beat him in a hurry

   2. willingly

      we won't go there again in a hurry

Related Words

See rush ¹.

Other Word Forms

• hurrying noun
• hurryingly adverb
• overhurry verb
• unhurrying adjective
• unhurryingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of hurry

First recorded in 1580–90; expressive word of uncertain origin, compare Middle English horyed (attested once) “rushed, impelled,” Middle High German hurren “to move quickly”

Example Sentences

He hurries out from behind the desk, reaching to shake Mom’s hand.

From Literature

West Wits, which also has a gold and copper project in its home market of Australia, hurried Qala Shallows into production a year ahead of schedule to capitalize on skyrocketing prices.

From The Wall Street Journal

Coal threw on some clothes, ducked into the bathroom, and hurried down.

From Literature

Big picture: The Fed appears in no hurry to cut interest rates again soon, with inflation still well above target and the labor market appearing to stabilize.

From MarketWatch

Big picture: The Fed appears in no hurry to cut interest rates again soon, with inflation still well above target and the labor market appearing to stabilize.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• dash
• hasten
• hustle
• jog
• rush
• scoot
• scurry
• whirl
• whisk
• zip