rush
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɹʌʃ/
homophone: Rush
rhymes: -ʌʃ
Forms: form: rushes
Etymology: Perhaps from Middle English ruschen, russchen (“to rush, startle, make a loud rushing noise”), from Old English hrysċan (“to jolt, startle”), from Proto-West Germanic *hurskijan, from Proto-Germanic *hurskijaną (“to startle, drive”), from *hurskaz (“fast, rapid, quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run, hurry”).
Cognate with Old High German hursken (“to hurry, speed, incite, accelerate”), Old English horsċ (“quick, quick-witted, clever”), Old Frisian rosk, rosch (“quick, rapid, sudden”).
etymology note
An alternative etymology traces rush via Middle English ruschen (“to rush”) from Old English *rūscian (“to rush”) from Proto-Germanic *rūskōną (“to rush, storm, be fierce, be cruel”), a variant (with formative k) of Proto-Germanic *rūsōną (“to be cruel, storm, rush”) from Proto-Indo-European *(o)rewə- (“to drive, move, agitate”), making it akin to Old High German rosc, rosci (“quick”), Middle Low German rûschen (“to rush”), Middle High German rūschen, riuschen (“to rush”) (German rauschen (“to rush”)), North Frisian ruse (“to rush”), Middle Dutch ruuscen (“to make haste”), Middle Dutch rūsen (“to rush”) (Dutch ruisen (“to rush”)), Danish ruse (“to rush”), Swedish rusa (“to rush”). Compare Middle High German rūsch (“a charge, rush”). Influenced by Middle English russhen (“to force back”) from Anglo-Norman russher, russer from Old French ruser, rëuser.
Alternatively, according to the OED, perhaps an adaptation of Anglo-Norman russher, russer (“to force back, down, out of place, by violent impact", "to pull out or drag off violently or hastily”), from Old French re(h)usser, ruser (although the connection of the forms with single -s- and double -ss- is dubious; also adopted in English ruse; French ruser (“to retreat, drive back”)), from an assumed Vulgar Latin *refūsāre and Latin refundō (“I cause to flow back”), although connection to the same Germanic root is also possible. More at rouse.
Senses: examples: text: A gentleman of his train spurred up his horse, and, with a violent rush, severed him from the duke.
ref: 1642, Henry Wotton, A Short View of the Life and Death of George Villiers:
text: When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. […]. The captive made no resistance and came not only quietly but in a series of eager little rushes like a timid dog on a choke chain.
ref: 1963, Margery Allingham, “Meeting Point”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 228:
synonyms: flush
glosses: A sudden forward motion.
examples: text: A rush of business can be difficult to handle effectively for its unexpected volume.
synonyms: flush
glosses: A surge.
examples: text: Many errors were made in the rush to finish.
text: Diane makes an announcement to the patient passengers on the quarter-full train. There is no sense of rush - time really does move more slowly in the Highlands. The passengers, nearly all tourists, don't seem in the slightest bothered.
ref: 2023 November 29, Paul Clifton, “West is best in the Highlands”, in RAIL, number 997, page 38:
glosses: General haste.
examples: text: a rush of water; a rush of footsteps
glosses: A rapid, noisy flow.
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: A sudden attack; an onslaught.
topics: video-games
synonyms: zerg
glosses: The strategy of attacking an opponent with a large swarm of weak units, rather than spending time developing their abilities.
examples: text: a rush on the quarterback
qualifier: contact sports
glosses: The act of running at another player to block or disrupt play.
examples: text: the center rush, whose place is in the center of the rush line
topics: American-football
ball-games
football
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A rusher; a lineman.
examples: text: The rollercoaster gave me a rush.
text: She felt the familiar cocaine rush soon after injecting herself.
glosses: A sudden, brief exhilaration, for instance the pleasurable sensation produced by a stimulant.
examples: text: rush week
text: The trend burst through last week during sorority rush at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, but it continues today in the form of parody videos, deep dives on the status of various recruits and rush videos from women at other colleges across the country who are just starting the process themselves.
ref: 2021 August 17, Allie Jones, “#BamaRush, Explained”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
text: […]daily “OOTDs” (outfits of the day), rush recap videos from freshly tanned and coiffed prospective new members (PNMs), and reactions to 18-year-old girls either elated or devastated by the high-stakes game of likability that is rush.
ref: 2023 May 24, Adrian Horton, “‘Competitive femininity’: inside the wild and secretive world of sororities”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
qualifier: university slang
glosses: A regulated period of recruitment in fraternities and sororities.
examples: text: At the end of rush, the fraternities vote on who they want to extend invitations to join, and the rushes can then make their selection from the bids they get. Some rushes get bids from multiple fraternities, while others do not get bids from any.
ref: 2011 September 15, Abe Gutierrez, “To Rush Or Not To Rush: A Crash Course From A Brother Who Likes It”, in NYU Local:
text: After a few rounds of these competitions, the rushes that survive to the end get a "bid." Again, kind of like an auction. They don’t come in nice envelopes like sororities, though. Usually what happens is that they put the rushes in a room individually and tell them they didn’t get the bid, to see how sad they get. If they get really sad, the fraternity brothers come to the room and congratulate them on being accepted to the fraternity. Then, the rushes become pledges.
ref: 2017 February 8, Youngweon Lee, “The Fraternity Rush Process As Told By Someone Who Knows Nothing About The Fraternity Rush Process”, in Bwog:
qualifier: university slang
glosses: A person attempting to join a fraternity or sorority as part of a rush.
qualifier: university slang
glosses: A perfect recitation.
qualifier: croquet
glosses: A roquet in which the object ball is sent to a particular location on the lawn.
Derived terms: adrenaline rush
boss rush
bum rush
bum's rush
feudal rush
gold rush
green rush
headrush
landrush
pass rush
rush defence
rush goalie
rush hour
rush job
rush of blood
rush of blood to the head
Rush River
sugar rush