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.
© Webster 1913.
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.
© Webster 1913.