Rescue Definition

rĕskyo͝o

rescued, rescues, rescuing

verb

rescued, rescues, rescuing

To free or save from danger, imprisonment, evil, etc.

Webster's New World

To take (a person or thing) out of legal custody by force.

Webster's New World

To recover forcibly.

Wiktionary

To deliver by arms, notably from a siege.

Wiktionary

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

Traditionally missionaries aim to rescue many ignorant heathen souls.

Wiktionary

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

Antonyms:
jail
capture
imprison
relinquish
let slip from one's hands
abandon
imperil
harm
injure
hurt
endanger

noun

rescues

The act or an instance of rescuing; deliverance.

Webster's New World

The criminal offense of removing a person or property.

American Heritage

The aiding of someone who is in immediate and serious peril; the unlawful release (usually by force) of a person who is legally imprisoned or under arrest.

Webster's New World Law

An act or episode of rescuing, saving.

Wiktionary

A liberation, freeing.

Wiktionary

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

adjective

Designating or of an animal, esp. a dog or cat, that has been adopted as a pet from a pound, animal shelter, etc.

Webster's New World

pronoun

A city in California (zip code 95672)

Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Rescue

Noun

Singular:

rescue

Plural:

rescues

Origin of Rescue

Middle English rescouen from Old French rescourre re- re- escourre to shake (from Latin excutere) (ex- ex-) (quatere to shake kwēt- in Indo-European roots)

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
From Middle English rescopuen, from Old French rescoure, rescurre, rescorre; from Latin prefix re- (“re-") + excuto (“to shake or drive out"), from ex (“out") + quato (“I shake").

From Wiktionary