rescue

From Middle English rescouen, from Old French rescoure, rescurre, rescorre; from Latin prefix re- (“re-”) + excutere, present active infinitive of excutiō (“I shake or drive out”), from ex (“out”) + quatiō (“I shake”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛs.kjuː/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

rescue (third-person singular simple present rescues, present participle rescuing, simple past and past participle rescued) (transitive)

1. 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^[1]:

     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.

2. To free or liberate from confinement or other physical restraint.

   Synonyms: liberate, release

   Antonyms: arrest, capture, kidnap

   Hyponyms: unshackle, untie

   to rescue a prisoner from the enemy

3. To recover forcibly, especially from a siege.

   Synonyms: liberate, recapture, retake

   Antonyms: besiege, capture

4. (figuratively) To remove or withdraw from a state of exposure to evil and sin.

   Synonyms: redeem, save

   Antonyms: corrupt, deprave

   Traditionally missionaries aim to rescue many ignorant heathen souls.

5. (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.

   • 2011 September 13, Sam Lyon, “Borussia Dortmund 1 - 1 Arsenal”, in BBC‎^[2]:

     Arsenal's hopes of starting their Champions League campaign with an away win were dashed when substitute Ivan Perisic's superb late volley rescued a point for Borussia Dortmund.

   • 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.

6. (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, →DOI, page 2664:

     Mecp2^R255X/+ [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 Mecp2^R255X/+ was rescued by MECP2^Tg1 allele.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

• rescuee
• rescuer

• quash

rescue (countable and uncountable, plural rescues)

1. 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^[3]:

     Guests marveled that they kept making more rescues.

2. A liberation, freeing.
3. (law, largely obsolete) The act of unlawfully freeing a person, or confiscated goods, from custody.
4. The forcible ending of a siege; liberation from similar military peril.

   The rescue of Jerusalem was the original motive of the Crusaders

5. A special airliner flight to bring home passengers who are stranded.
6. A rescuee.

   The dog was a rescue with some behavior issues.

• Often used attributively as an adjective, e.g. "rescue equipment".

“rescue”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

• Creuse, cereus, ceruse, cursee, recuse, secuer, secure