rescue
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Remove ads
See also: Rescue
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 (“I shake”).
Pronunciation
Verb
rescue (third-person singular simple present rescues, present participle rescuing, simple past and past participle rescued) (transitive)
- To save from any violence, danger or evil.
- Synonyms: free, deliver (from), pull out of the fire
- Antonyms: endanger, imperil
- The well-trained team rescued everyone after the avalanche.
- 2004, John Pym, editor, Time Out Film Guide, page 70:
- Soon after rescuing some silly children from the local caves, the alien prangs his vessel and dies.
- 2023 May 5, Declan Walsh, “‘Only Word for Them Is Heroes’: How 2 Students Rescued Dozens in Sudan”, in The New York Times:
- The students’ final mission was their longest: a trip across the Nile to the city of Omdurman, at the request of Rwandan diplomats, to rescue a woman who, unlike the first they rescued, really was pregnant.
- To free or liberate from confinement or other physical restraint.
- To recover forcibly, especially from a siege.
- (figuratively) To remove or withdraw from a state of exposure to evil and sin.
- (figuratively) To achieve something positive under difficult conditions.
- 1999, Marion A. Kaplan, Between Dignity and Despair, Oxford University Press, →ISBN:
- Jews rescued some normalcy from increasingly difficult times by assuaging their constant Angst in the family and community and making do with less.
- 2013, Daniel Harris, The Promised Land: Manchester United's Historic Treble, Birlinn, →ISBN:
- Over the course of the season, on 15 occasions the team had rescued a draw or better after falling behind, such that even against Juventus, there was an air of inevitability about the comeback.
- (biology, genetics) 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.
- 2015, Meagan R. Pitcher et al., “Rett syndrome like phenotypes in the R255X Mecp2 mutant mouse are rescued by MECP2 transgene”, in Human Molecular Genetics, volume 24, number 9, , page 2664:
- Mecp2R255X/+ [mice] developed an overweight body weight phenotype by 10 weeks age and increased liver and heart weight by 8 months age. Abnormal body, liver and heart weight in Mecp2R255X/+ was rescued by MECP2Tg1 allele.
- To salvage and restore something that has been discarded.
- I rescued a set of antique dining chairs.
- 2016 May 26, Jojo Moyes, Foreign Fruit: 'Blissful, romantic reading' - Company, Hachette UK, →ISBN:
- She had rescued a sofa once, had managed to locate the dealer who had bought it from under her nose while she perused a junk shop, and offered to buy it from him.
- To fix a mistake made while preparing something, especially in cooking.
- The cook rescued the sauce after it began to curdle.
- 2019 November 12, Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker, John Becker, Megan Scott, Joy of Cooking: Fully Revised and Updated, Scribner, →ISBN, page 791:
- To rescue whipped cream that has been overwhipped and appears grainy, add a little more liquid cream and whip it briefly or until very smooth and soft.
- To adopt (an animal).
- 2018 July 31, Olivia Hussey, The Girl on the Balcony: Olivia Hussey Finds Life after Romeo and Juliet, Kensington Books, →ISBN:
- We rescued a dog, Dylan, which would begin my lifelong love of animals, especially dogs.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
to save from any danger or violence
|
to free, liberate from physical restraint
to recover forcibly
|
to remove from exposure to evil/sin
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
|
Noun
rescue (countable and uncountable, plural rescues)
- An act or episode of rescuing, saving.
- 2023 May 5, Declan Walsh, “‘Only Word for Them Is Heroes’: How 2 Students Rescued Dozens in Sudan”, in The New York Times:
- Guests marveled that they kept making more rescues.
- A liberation, freeing.
- (law, largely obsolete) The act of unlawfully freeing a person, or confiscated goods, from custody.
- The forcible ending of a siege; liberation from similar military peril.
- The rescue of Jerusalem was the original motive of the Crusaders
- A special airliner flight to bring home passengers who are stranded.
- A rescuee.
- The dog was a rescue with some behavior issues.
Usage notes
- Often used attributively as an adjective, e.g. "rescue equipment".
Derived terms
Translations
act of rescuing, saving
|
liberation — see liberation
forcible ending of a siege
|
special airliner flight
|
rescuee — see rescuee
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
References
“rescue”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Anagrams
Remove ads
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
Remove ads