Origin:
1300–50; (v.) Middle English rescuen < Old French rescourre, equivalent to re- re- + escourre to shake, drive out, remove < Latin excutere (ex- ex-¹ + -cutere, combining form of quatere to shake); (noun) Middle English, derivative of the v.

Related forms

res·cu·a·ble, adjective

res·cue·less, adjective

res·cu·er, noun

non·res·cue, noun

qua·si-res·cued, adjective

EXPAND

un·res·cu·a·ble, adjective

un·res·cued, adjective

COLLAPSE

Synonyms
1. liberate, release, save, redeem, ransom, extricate, recover. 3. liberation, deliverance, release, redemption, recovery.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To rescue

Example Sentences

The rescue package presents new questions for money market funds and their customers.

The police, and health and rescue teams have also been efficient and clear about their duties.

But the normally well-organised armed forces have not managed to do much beyond rescue and evacuation.

EXPAND

The rescue package presents new questions for money market funds and their customers.

The police, and health and rescue teams have also been efficient and clear about their duties.

But the normally well-organised armed forces have not managed to do much beyond rescue and evacuation.

Border agents prepare to fly in and repel off of a mountain to rescue an errant border crosser.

Stem cell transplants rescue memory problems in mice, but not in the way you might expect.

But opportunity, entrepreneurial drive and public-minded generosity came to the rescue.

We got him when he was a chick-let, a rescue chicken.

Two cell-phone providers offer fake rescue calls to help the mobilely connected wiggle out of an uncomfortable situation.

Emergency responders are getting heavier, a study finds, and it may undermine their rescue abilities.

Either to rescue people or to use the weird time-issues with the.

Our correspondents discuss what needs to be done to rescue the single currency.

So the zookeeper needs an expert to rescue these hard-to-spot lizards.

Right now, rescue centers are inundated with sick pelicans.

Firefighters frantically cranked a rescue ladder, which rose slowly skyward-then stopped at the sixth floor, fully extended.

They work together to rescue themselves, and in the end, that teamwork is what makes them such a strong team.

Fears are growing that the latest rescue will be another minimal step that falls short of a solution.

Clarity will rescue us from this sad polarization of claimants and critics, believers and atheists.

The deal held out the prospect of lower borrowing costs on rescue finance, subject to tougher conditions.

Rescue workers offer some birds a chance at survival.

Here's my favorite example of plants coming to the rescue.

Rescue workers try to free those still alive, and there are some.

For any government setting out a rescue, this reception holds two lessons, concerning the scale and the shape of a rescue.

Rescue teams are working around the clock retrieving.

Even as cars are growing safer, they are becoming increasingly complex puzzles for rescue workers who might have to cut into them.

Yet aftershocks frighten residents and complicate rescue efforts.

Luckily for the bats, there are volunteers to swoop in and rescue them.

There are areas of refuge on each floor where people can await rescue and enhanced elevators that function in emergencies.

Have the rescue team devise a strategy for helping the species survive and increasing its numbers.

Search and rescue volunteers base this conclusion on anecdotal evidence.

Nox has to slip and slide his way through walls and rooftops in order to rescue his friends and save the day.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

rescue (ˈrɛskjuː)

—vb , -cues, -cuing, -cued
1.	to bring (someone or something) out of danger, attack, harm, etc; deliver or save
2.	to free (a person) from legal custody by force
3.	law to seize (goods or property) by force

—n
4.	a. the act or an instance of rescuing
	b. (as modifier): a rescue party
5.	the forcible removal of a person from legal custody
6.	law the forcible seizure of goods or property

[C14: rescowen, from Old French rescourre, from re- + escourre to pull away, from Latin excutere to shake off, from quatere to shake]

'rescuable

—*adj*

'rescuer

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

rescue

c.1300 (n. and v.), from stem of O.Fr. rescourre, from re-, intensive prefix, + escourre "to cast off, discharge," from L. excutere "to shake off, drive away," from ex- "out" + -cutere, combining form of quatere "to shake" (see quash).

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"Americans think of themselves collectively as a huge rescue squad on twenty-four-hour call to any spot on the globe where dispute and conflict may erupt."

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