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.
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.