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

• rescuable adjective
• rescueless adjective
• rescuer noun
• 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

“So the fact that there was suddenly a new movement to rescue it and bring it back into use for the community—it was something people had been looking for for a long time.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

An AFP journalist saw a residential building gutted in the attack and rescue workers clearing debris while residents surveyed the destruction.

Read more on Barron's

She rescued orangutans that had been kidnapped for sale or kept in cages as pets and brought several into her hut.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Part of the problem with mobilizing national and statewide Republican resources to rescue Cuomo is that many Republicans, in New York and elsewhere, still detest the former governor.

Read more on Salon

A Turkish disaster response team is still waiting by the Gaza border for Israeli approval to enter the Palestinian territory to help with search and rescue operations, a defence ministry source said Thursday.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

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