rescue

[res-kyoo]

verb (used with object)

rescued, rescuing 

1. 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.

   Synonyms: salvage, recover, emancipate, extricate, ransom, redeem, save, release, liberate

2. Law.,  to liberate or take by forcible or illegal means from lawful custody.

noun

1. the act of rescuing.

   Synonyms: emancipation, redemption, release, deliverance, liberation

2. 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.

3. a group or organization that participates in such animal welfare activities: breed-specific rescues.

   your local rescue;

   breed-specific rescues.

4. a domestic animal adopted from an animal shelter or other animal welfare group.

   Our new puppy is a rescue!

adjective

1. 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.

2. 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.

rescue

/ ˈrɛskjuː /

verb

1. to bring (someone or something) out of danger, attack, harm, etc; deliver or save

2. to free (a person) from legal custody by force

3. law to seize (goods or property) by force

noun

1. 1. the act or an instance of rescuing

   2. ( as modifier )

      a rescue party

2. the forcible removal of a person from legal custody

3. law the forcible seizure of goods or property

Other Word Forms

• rescuer noun
• rescuable adjective
• rescueless adjective
• nonrescue noun
• quasi-rescued adjective
• unrescuable adjective
• unrescued adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of rescue¹

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”); re-, ex- ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of rescue¹

C14: rescowen , from Old French rescourre , from _re- + escourre to pull away, from Latin excutere to shake off, from quatere to shake

Example Sentences

By Saturday morning, the rescue mission had shifted to a recovery operation, said Davis, who was visibly choked up.

Read more on BBC

Emergency services, including the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service's water rescue team, attended the scene.

Read more on BBC

The flow of returnees continues, with around 50,000 people arriving in Gaza City on Saturday, according to the civil defence agency, a rescue service operating under Hamas authority.

Read more on Barron's

It wasn’t one party or the other but the Carter-Reagan duo that rescued the economy, though honorable mention is due Ford advisers who first hatched deregulation.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Spokesman Mahmoud Basal told the BBC that eight bodies were pulled out from northern Gaza on Friday morning, as rescue teams continue searching "with very limited means" in other areas.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• extricate 
• free 
• keep 
• liberate 
• preserve 
• protect 
• recapture 
• recover 
• release 
• retrieve 
• salvage