Hypertext Webster Gateway: "rescue"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
rescue
n : recovery or preservation from loss or danger; "work is the
deliverance of mankind": "a surgeon's job is the saving
of lives" [syn: {deliverance}, {delivery}, {saving}]
v 1: free from harm or evil [syn: {deliver}]
2: take forcibly from legal custody, as of prisoners
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