rescue
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Free from harm or evil.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rehskyooSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹɛskju
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Free from harm or evil
To free or liberate from confinement or other physical restraint.
To save from any violence, danger or evil.
To recover forcibly, especially from a siege.
To salvage and restore something that has been discarded.
figuratively
To remove or withdraw from a state of exposure to evil and sin.
noun
An act or episode of rescuing, saving.
A liberation, freeing.
A special airliner flight to bring home passengers who are stranded.
A rescuee.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Free from harm or evil
Used this way, rescue is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Positive and appreciative
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use rescue
- “The firefighters performed a daring rescue to save the stranded cat.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Equipment used to rescue passengers in case of emergency.
An operation organized to free from danger or confinement.
A party of rescuers.
A rescue mission to search for survivors and to rescue them.
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.