rescue
Americanverb (used with object)
-
rescues,
present (3rd person singular)
-
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
-
rescuessimple
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have rescuedperfect
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has rescuedperfect
-
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
-
rescuedsimple
-
had rescuedperfect
-
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:
He added that a search and rescue operation was continuing at the site.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
Television footage showed heavy machinery digging through the rubble as rescue teams gathered at the site in an effort to recover people trapped beneath the debris.
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026
The wary Johnson brought her rescue puppy Tokyo to the interview.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
The controversy emphasized how California, where shelters are overflowing with animals, failed to regulate private rescue groups.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
Should you give him to the rescue people?
From "A Boy Called Bat" by Elana K. Arnold
Wildfires have piled pressure on already endangered orangutans, forcing local groups and authorities to carry out high-stakes rescues of animals suffering smoke inhalation and burns.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
Formed in 1935, it currently has more than 80 volunteers who regularly attend mountain and cave rescues, as well as assisting in other public service incidents.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
Violet, named for the color of identifying crayon scrawled on her brow, is one of 250 to 500 patients the Marine Mammal Care Center rescues along the Los Angeles County coast every year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
“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
During the day he traveled the city with other police officers and National Guard troops, making rescues.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
Two similar periods to the post-Liberation Day bounce are the ones after hedge fund Long Term Capital Management had to be rescued in 1998 and the Covid panic in 2020.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
Trade Desk rescued executives’ stock options from a dive in the share price.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
All 22 Indian crew members were rescued, the Indian consulate in Dubai said on 11 October.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
They have rescued kidnapping victims, searched for children recruited by armed groups, and even protected forests from deforestation.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
Then he was rescued & got on a ship to Cuba where a kindly missionary arranged for him to come to America.
From "The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle" by Dan Gutman
But downsizing means rescuing yourself from being a “prisoner of your possessions,” as Ciji Ware writes in her new book, “Rightsizing Over 70.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
And one commenter, referencing the classic hot firemen calendars used as fundraisers, wrote: “Someone should make a calendar of handsome men rescuing cats and dogs!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 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
In her mind she saw herself losing her grip, she saw Jack falling into the dark waters, she saw herself rescuing him from the ice only to lose him to something worse.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
