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rescue - 5 dictionary results

res⋅cue

  [res-kyoo] verb, -cued, -cu⋅ing, noun
Use rescue in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to free or deliver from confinement, violence, danger, or evil.
2. Law. to liberate or take by forcible or illegal means from lawful custody.
–noun
3. the act of rescuing.
Origin:
1300–50; (v.) ME rescuen < OF rescourre, equiv. to re- re- + escourre to shake, drive out, remove < L excutere (ex- ex- 1 + -cutere, comb. form of quatere to shake); (n.) ME, deriv. of the v.

Related forms:
res⋅cu⋅a⋅ble, adjective
res⋅cue⋅less, adjective
res⋅cu⋅er, noun

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. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To rescue
res·cue   (rěs'kyōō)   
tr.v.   res·cued, res·cu·ing, res·cues
  1. To set free, as from danger or imprisonment; save. See Synonyms at save1.
  2. Law To take from legal custody by force.
n.  
  1. An act of rescuing; a deliverance.
  2. Law Removal from legal custody by force.

[Middle English rescouen, from Old French rescourre : re-, re- + escourre, to shake (from Latin excutere : ex-, ex- + quatere, to shake; see kwēt- in Indo-European roots).]
res'cu·a·ble adj., res'cu·er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.

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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : rescue
Spanish: rescatar, socorrer,
German: retten,
Japanese: 救助する
More Translations »

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).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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