rescue
Americanverb (used with object)
-
rescues,
present (3rd person singular)
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rescued,
past participle, past
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rescuing
present participle
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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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rescues
plural
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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
-
-
the act or an instance of rescuing
-
( 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
-
had rescuedperfect
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was rescuingprogressive
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were rescuingprogressive
-
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:
Xi said that "the most urgent task is doing everything possible to search for and rescue the missing people... quickly treat injured people and minimise casualties to the greatest extent possible", according to CCTV.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
Abdul Ghafoor, another witness, told AFP he tried to get into the building to rescue patients but couldn't reach the maternity ward.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
The government of the Tibetan Autonomous Region has sent hundreds of people to carry out the rescue operations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Two other Warner Bros. movies, “Scoob! Holiday Haunt” and “Batgirl,” were written off when almost completed, but as of now, no one has come to their rescue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
For rescue workers and law enforcement, it might have been easier if the people were just a bit scared.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
Szoboszlai rescues a point for Liverpool, scoring a stoppage-time penalty to deny Newcastle an opening game victory at St James' Park in the Premier League.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
Her revealing, sometimes seething account makes clear that, rather than being solo affairs, the safest rescues are accomplished by teams.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
"Major rainfall flooding may prompt many evacuations and rescues," the NWS said, adding that rivers and tributaries "may rapidly overflow their banks in multiple places".
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
The outfit partners with Kitten Rescue Los Angeles, a nonprofit that rescues and adopts out homeless cats and kittens.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
"A savior is somebody who rescues someone or something from harm or danger," Helmuth begins.
From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
At the time of the blaze, from which at least 20 people were rescued, work was under way to remove dangerous cladding.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Some 19 people, including seven children, were rescued, Deputy Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
"At least they know where their loved ones are and hope they may be rescued, unlike those who still have no information about missing relatives," he added.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Abandoned by his mother, mountain lion cub Crimson was rescued earlier this year by wildlife officials and transferred to the Los Angeles Zoo with hopes for his full recovery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
“If this person were a friend to the Incorrigibles, surely he or she would have rescued them and brought them indoors. But if a foe, why bother helping the children survive at all?”
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
Wild Futures said the sanctuary began when it started rescuing woolly monkeys from the pet trade.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Saar traces her habit of rescuing discarded materials to her childhood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
It will then vie to tow Swift into a stable orbit over the course of at least a month, rescuing it from destruction by moving it about 300 kilometers higher.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
This time around, Enola’s impending wedding is interrupted when she learns Sherlock’s been kidnapped and needs rescuing.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
It hadn’t really occurred to her that she’d be rescuing him from someone.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
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.
