rescue

name

1. A city in California.

noun

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 (“to shake”). Displaced native Old English nerian.

1. An act or episode of rescuing, saving.

   “Guests marveled that they kept making more rescues.”

2. A liberation, freeing.
3. The act of unlawfully freeing a person, or confiscated goods, from custody.
4. The forcible ending of a siege; liberation from similar military peril.

   “The rescue of Jerusalem was the original motive of the Crusaders”

5. A special airliner flight to bring home passengers who are stranded.
6. A rescuee.

   “The dog was a rescue with some behavior issues.”

verb

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 (“to shake”). Displaced native Old English nerian.

1. To save from any violence, danger or evil.

   “The well-trained team rescued everyone after the avalanche.”

   “Soon after rescuing some silly children from the local caves, the alien prangs his vessel and dies.”

2. To free or liberate from confinement or other physical restraint.

   “to rescue a prisoner from the enemy”

3. To recover forcibly, especially from a siege.
4. To remove or withdraw from a state of exposure to evil and sin.

   “Traditionally missionaries aim to rescue many ignorant heathen souls.”

5. To achieve something positive under difficult conditions.

   “Jews rescued some normalcy from increasingly difficult times by assuaging their constant Angst in the family and community and making do with less.”

   “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.”

6. 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.

   “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.”

7. To salvage and restore something that has been discarded.

   “I rescued a set of antique dining chairs.”

   “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.”

8. To fix a mistake made while preparing something, especially in cooking.

   “The cook rescued the sauce after it began to curdle.”

   “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.”

9. To adopt (an animal).

   “We rescued a dog, Dylan, which would begin my lifelong love of animals, especially dogs.”