rescue

American  

[res-kyoo] / ˈrɛs kju /

verb (used with object)

• rescues,
  present (3rd person singular)
• rescued,
  past participle,  past
• rescuing
  present participle

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.

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noun

• rescues
  plural

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 British  

/ 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

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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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• rescues
  plural

Participles

• rescuing
  present
• rescued
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• rescue
  simple
• rescues
  simple
• have rescued
  perfect
• has rescued
  perfect
• am rescuing
  progressive
• are rescuing
  progressive
• is rescuing
  progressive
• have been rescuing
  perfect progressive
• has been rescuing
  perfect progressive

Past

• rescued
  simple
• had rescued
  perfect
• was rescuing
  progressive
• were rescuing
  progressive
• had been rescuing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will rescue
  simple
• will have rescued
  perfect
• will be rescuing
  progressive
• will have been rescuing
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rescue rescues rescued rescuing

But planes and helicopters needed to evacuate became stuck in the desert sand and needed to be destroyed while special forces awaited a backup rescue crew.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth sat for an interview, focusing solely on the rescue mission.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

"We can inform you that the total number of evacuated passengers is 103 people," local search and rescue chief I Putu Sudayana said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026

The tribes also have worked together after rains to orchestrate rescue missions for chi that are trapped in puddles, offshoots and agricultural ditches.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

He could see Chip and Katherine standing hesitantly by the front door, as if they weren’t sure if they needed to come and rescue him or not.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

“Our priority is to get in and complete any rescues if possible. In this case, the plane was heavily damaged and we were not able to extricate any of the victims,” Raines said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

The BBC's South Asia correspondent Azadeh Moshiri, reporting from Nepal, describes how the rescues have given renewed hope to some families still waiting to find out what happened to missing relatives.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

India, which has extensive experience in such rescues, has sent an 11-person specialised team.

From Barron's ● Aug. 29, 2026

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

I’ve given thirteen piggybacks by the time Marie rescues me from the youngest of the boys.

From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak

The program opened with Norah O’Donnell’s exclusive interview with the Air Force officer who was shot down over Iran and rescued by special forces.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

Firefighters aboard an airboat rescued the men about 15 minutes later, according to the sheriff’s office.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

Six people have been rescued after a 46ft yacht got into difficulty off the coast of Northern Ireland.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

Three people were rescued from deep inside tunnels days after the disaster, but there has been no confirmation of further survivors since a Chinese man was pulled out alive nearly a week ago.

From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026

I have Emery Webber, who rescued me from having to eat lunch by myself on the first day of freshman year.

From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman

Advocates, companies and some politicians argue that the Heimlich maneuver and back blows, another established method of rescuing people from choking, aren’t always enough.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

"I think the focus should obviously be on rescuing as many people as possible from this disaster", he added, hoping that his parents will be found safe and sound.

From Barron's ● Aug. 29, 2026

Bouncing down dusty roads, performing at snake-handling parties, rescuing homeowners from vipers and thousands of creatures from nameless obscurity, the snake men appeal to the renegade in us all.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

"We are extremely grateful for the heroic, swift actions of our partner agencies and Good Samaritan vessel who assisted in rescuing survivors from the water," said Capt Doreen McCarthy of the Coast Guard.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

And she didn’t act like princesses in stories did—all useless and vulnerable and needing rescuing.

From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley

Related Words

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