English Explanatory Dictionary

rescue

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To save from any violence, danger or evil.
  2. To free or liberate from confinement or other physical restraint.
  3. To recover forcibly, especially from a siege.
  4. To remove or withdraw from a state of exposure to evil and sin.
  5. To achieve something positive under difficult conditions.
  6. To restore a particular trait in an organism that was lost or altered, especially where this loss was as the consequence of some experimental manipulation.
  7. To salvage and restore something that has been discarded.
  8. To fix a mistake made while preparing something, especially in cooking.
  9. To adopt (an animal).
noun
  1. An act or episode of rescuing, saving.
  2. A liberation, freeing.
  3. The act of unlawfully freeing a person, or confiscated goods, from custody.
  4. The forcible ending of a siege; liberation from similar military peril.
  5. A special airliner flight to bring home passengers who are stranded.
  6. A rescuee.
name
  1. A city in California.

Pronunciation

/ˈɹɛs.kjuː/ /ˈɹɛs.kju/ en-us-rescue.ogg /ˈrɛs.kju/ /rɪsˈkju/

Word forms

rescue rescues rescuing rescued

Etymology

From Middle English rescouen, from Old French rescoure, rescurre, rescorre; from Latin prefix re- (“re-”) + excutere (“to shake or drive out”), from ex (“out”) + quatiō (“to shake”). Displaced native Old English nerian.

Synonyms

free deliver pull out of the fire liberate release recapture retake redeem save

Antonyms

endanger imperil arrest capture kidnap besiege corrupt deprave

Related words

quash

Derived words

rescuable rescuee rescuer unrescued come to someone's rescue mountain rescue neurorescue nonrescue pararescue pararescueman rescue board rescue circle rescue dog rescue grass rescueless rescueman rescue mission rescue party rescue service rescue swimmer rescue therapy search and rescue sea rescue kit to one's rescue to the rescue
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