rescue

The word “rescue” means to save someone or something from danger, harm, or a difficult situation. In plain terms, to save someone from danger, or the act of doing so.

“Rescue” is pronounced REHS-kyoo (/ˈɹɛs.kju/ in IPA).

Here is “rescue” used in a sentence: “Firefighters rescued the family from the burning building.”

Depending on how it is used, “rescue” can be a verb and a noun.

The word “rescue” comes from Latin. From Old French rescourre, ultimately from Latin excutere, "to shake out," combined with the prefix re-.

“Rescue” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“Rescue” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: to save someone or something from danger, harm, or a difficult situation.

The two overlap, but rescue stresses actively removing someone from immediate danger, often through effort or bravery, as when firefighters rescue a trapped resident. Save is broader: you can save someone from danger, but also save money, time, or a file. Every rescue is a kind of saving, though not the reverse.

Rescue work is often grouped by setting. Search and rescue covers finding missing people; water or sea rescue handles drowning and boating emergencies; mountain rescue deals with climbers and hikers; and animal rescue saves pets and wildlife. Emergency services, coastguards, and volunteer teams carry out this work.

A lifeguard swimming out to bring a struggling swimmer back to shore is a classic rescue. So is pulling someone from a burning building, freeing a driver from a crashed car, or airlifting stranded hikers to safety. Each removes a person from danger they could not escape alone.

The clearest opposites are to abandon or desert, leaving someone in danger instead of helping them. Words like endanger, trap, or imperil also contrast with rescue, since they put someone at risk rather than removing them from it. Rescue is about relief, so its opposites involve neglect or harm.