Adjacent Words

Rescue definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

RESCUE, v.t. res'cu.[L. re and quatio.]
To free or deliver from any confinement, violence, danger or evil; to liberate from actual restraint, or to remove or withdraw from a state of exposure to evil; as, to rescue a prisoner from an officer; to rescue seamen from destruction by shipwreck.
So the people rescued Jonathan that he died not.
1 Sam
14:30. Psalms 35.
Cattle taken by distress contrary to law, may be rescued by the owner, while on their way to the pound.
Estimate the value of one soul rescued from eternal guilt and agony, and destined to grow forever in the knowledge and likeness of God.
RES'CUE, n. [See the Verb.]
1. Deliverance from restraint, violence or danger, by force or by the interference of an agent.
2. In law, rescue or rescous, the forcible retaking of a lawful distress from the distrainor, or from the custody of the law; also, the forcible liberation of a defendant from the custody of the officer, in which cases, the remedy is by writ of rescous. But when the distress is unlawfully taken, the owner may lawfully make rescue.
The rescue of a prisoner from the court, is punished with perpetual imprisonment and forfeiture of goods.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: recovery or preservation from loss or danger; "work is the deliverance of mankind"; "a surgeon's job is the saving of lives" [syn: rescue, deliverance, delivery, saving] v
1: free from harm or evil [syn: rescue, deliver]
2: take forcibly from legal custody; "rescue prisoners"

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (rescued; rescuing) Etymology: Middle English rescouen, rescuen, from Anglo-French rescure, from re- + escure to shake off, from Latin excutere, from ex- + quatere to shake Date: 14th century to free from confinement, danger, or evil ; save, deliver: as a. to take (as a prisoner) forcibly from custody b. to recover (as a prize) by force c. to deliver (as a place under siege) by armed force • rescuable adjective • rescue noun • rescuer noun Synonyms: rescue, deliver, redeem, ransom, reclaim, save mean to set free from confinement or danger. rescue implies freeing from imminent danger by prompt or vigorous action <rescued the crew of a sinking ship>. deliver implies release usually of a person from confinement, temptation, slavery, or suffering <delivered his people from bondage>. redeem implies releasing from bondage or penalties by giving what is demanded or necessary <job training designed to redeem school dropouts from chronic unemployment>. ransom specifically applies to buying out of captivity <tried to ransom the kidnap victim>. reclaim suggests a bringing back to a former state or condition of someone or something abandoned or debased <reclaimed long-abandoned farms>. save may replace any of the foregoing terms; it may further imply a preserving or maintaining for usefulness or continued existence <an operation that saved my life>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.tr. (rescues, rescued, rescuing) 1 (often foll. by from) save or set free or bring away from attack, custody, danger, or harm. 2 Law a unlawfully liberate (a person). b forcibly recover (property). --n. the act or an instance of rescuing or being rescued; deliverance. Phrases and idioms: rescue bid Bridge a bid made to get one's partner out of a difficult situation. Derivatives: rescuable adj. rescuer n. Etymology: ME rescowe f. OF rescoure f. Rmc, formed as RE- + L excutere (as EX-(1), quatere shake)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Rescue Res"cue (r?s"k?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rescued (-k?d);p. pr. & vb. n. Rescuing.] [OE. rescopuen, OF. rescourre, rescurre, rescorre; L. pref. re- re- + excutere to shake or drive out; ex out + quatere to shake. See Qtash to crush, Rercussion.] To free or deliver from any confinement, violence, danger, or evil; to liberate from actual restraint; to remove or withdraw from a state of exposure to evil; as, to rescue a prisoner from the enemy; to rescue seamen from destruction. Had I been seized by a hungry lion, I would have been a breakfast to the best, Rather than have false Proteus rescue me. --Shak. Syn: To retake; recapture; free; deliver; liberate; release; save.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Rescue Res"cue (r?s"k?), n. [From Rescue, v.; cf. Rescous.] 1. The act of rescuing; deliverance from restraint, violence, or danger; liberation. Spur to the rescue of the noble Talbot. --Shak. 2. (Law) (a) The forcible retaking, or taking away, against law, of things lawfully distrained. (b) The forcible liberation of a person from an arrest or imprisonment. (c) The retaking by a party captured of a prize made by the enemy. --Bouvier. The rescue of a prisoner from the court is punished with perpetual imprisonment and forfeiture of goods. --Blackstone. Rescue grass. [Etymol. uncertain.] (Bot.) A tall grass (Ceratochloa unioloides) somewhat resembling chess, cultivated for hay and forage in the Southern States.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(rescues, rescuing, rescued) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If you rescue someone, you get them out of a dangerous or unpleasant situation. Helicopters rescued nearly 20 people from the roof of the burning building... VERB: V n • rescuer (rescuers) It took rescuers 90 minutes to reach the trapped men. N-COUNT 2. Rescue is help which gets someone out of a dangerous or unpleasant situation. A big rescue operation has been launched for a trawler missing in the English Channel. N-UNCOUNT: oft N n 3. A rescue is an attempt to save someone from a dangerous or unpleasant situation. A major air-sea rescue is under way... N-COUNT 4. If you go to someone's rescue or come to their rescue, you help them when they are in danger or difficulty. The 23-year-old's screams alerted a passerby who went to her rescue... PHRASE: V inflects

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. Liberate, free, deliver, save, redeem, extricate, release, ransom, set free, bring off, retake, recapture, preserve, recover. II. n. Liberation, release, redemption, ransom, salvation, deliverance, extrication.

Moby Thesaurus

Emancipation Proclamation, abet, affranchise, affranchisement, aid, assist, assistance, avail, bail out, bear a hand, befriend, benefit, break, breakout, buy, comfort, conserve, deliver, deliverance, delivery, disembarrass, disentangle, disenthrall, disenthrallment, do good, doctor, ease, emancipate, emancipation, emergence, enfranchise, enfranchisement, escape, escapism, evasion, extract, extricate, extrication, favor, flight, free, freeing, gay liberation, getaway, give a boost, give a hand, give a lift, give help, good offices, help, issuance, issue, jailbreak, leak, leakage, lend a hand, lend one aid, let go free, let loose, liberate, liberation, manumission, manumit, ministration, ministry, office, offices, outlet, preserve, prisonbreak, proffer aid, protect, protection, rally, ransom, reclaim, recoup, recover, recycle, redeem, regain, release, relief, relieve, remedy, render assistance, restore, resuscitate, retrieve, revive, riddance, salvage, save, saving, service, set at large, set at liberty, set free, set up, setting at liberty, setting-free, succor, support, take in tow, therapy, vent, win back