rescue
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɹɛs.kjuː/
Forms: form: rescues
form: rescuing
form: rescued
form: rescued
Etymology: From Middle English rescouen, from Old French rescoure, rescurre, rescorre; from Latin prefix re- (“re-”) + excutere (“to shake or drive out”), from ex (“out”) + quatiō (“I shake”).
Senses: examples: text: The well-trained team rescued everyone after the avalanche.
text: Soon after rescuing some silly children from the local caves, the alien prangs his vessel and dies.
ref: 2004, John Pym, editor, Time Out Film Guide, page 70:
text: 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.
ref: 2023 May 5, Declan Walsh, “‘Only Word for Them Is Heroes’: How 2 Students Rescued Dozens in Sudan”, in The New York Times:
synonyms: word: free
word: deliver
alt: from
word: pull out of the fire
antonyms: endanger
imperil
glosses: To save from any violence, danger or evil.
examples: text: to rescue a prisoner from the enemy
synonyms: liberate
release
antonyms: arrest
capture
kidnap
glosses: To free or liberate from confinement or other physical restraint.
synonyms: liberate
recapture
retake
antonyms: besiege
capture
glosses: To recover forcibly, especially from a siege.
examples: text: Traditionally missionaries aim to rescue many ignorant heathen souls.
synonyms: redeem
save
antonyms: corrupt
deprave
glosses: To remove or withdraw from a state of exposure to evil and sin.
examples: text: Jews rescued some normalcy from increasingly difficult times by assuaging their constant Angst in the family and community and making do with less.
ref: 1999, Marion A. Kaplan, Between Dignity and Despair, Oxford University Press, →ISBN:
text: 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.
ref: 2011 September 13, Sam Lyon, “Borussia Dortmund 1 - 1 Arsenal”, in BBC:
text: 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.
ref: 2013, Daniel Harris, The Promised Land: Manchester United's Historic Treble, Birlinn, →ISBN:
glosses: To achieve something positive under difficult conditions.
examples: text: 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 MECP2ᵀᵍ¹ allele.
ref: 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:
topics: biology
genetics
medicine
natural-sciences
sciences
glosses: 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.
examples: text: I rescued a set of antique dining chairs.
text: 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.
ref: 2016 May 26, Jojo Moyes, Foreign Fruit: 'Blissful, romantic reading' - Company, Hachette UK, →ISBN:
glosses: To salvage and restore something that has been discarded.
examples: text: The cook rescued the sauce after it began to curdle.
text: 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.
ref: 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:
glosses: To fix a mistake made while preparing something, especially in cooking.
examples: text: We rescued a dog, Dylan, which would begin my lifelong love of animals, especially dogs.
ref: 2018 July 31, Olivia Hussey, The Girl on the Balcony: Olivia Hussey Finds Life after Romeo and Juliet, Kensington Books, →ISBN:
glosses: To adopt (an animal).
Derived terms: rescuee
rescuer
Related terms: quash