hurry

[hur-ee, huhr-ee]

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.

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

/ ˈhʌrɪ /

verb

1. to hasten (to do something); rush

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

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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of hurry¹

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”

Word History and Origins

Origin of hurry¹

C16 horyen, probably of imitative origin; compare Middle High German hurren; see _scurry

Synonym Study

See rush ¹.

Example Sentences

Over time, those amplified gains and losses can pile up in hurry, and veer from the returns produced by the underlying stock.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In a hurried voice message, Hassn said that they were being moved that evening.

Read more on BBC

Traders who have borrowed the stock and sold it, hoping to buy it back at a lower price, could have to buy it back in a hurry if shares begin to rally.

Read more on Barron's

Production stoppages ensued as executives hurried to crunch numbers and figure out which vehicles could be made and where.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In her new book, she further relates that Cheever wrote the story reluctantly and in a hurry to pay her orthodontist, “a Tarrytown guy who had his eye on a larger house.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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