rescue

n.

1. The act of rescuing

   deliverance, saving, release, extrication, liberation, ransom, redemption, salvation, reclamation, reclaiming, emancipation, disentanglement, disembarrassment, recovering, heroism; see also freeing.

2. An instance of rescue

   deed, feat, performance, exploit, accomplishment, heroics; see also achievement 2.

rescue

v.

1. To save from danger or evil

   save, preserve, recover, redeem, recapture, salvage, reclaim, retain, keep back, safeguard, protect, retrieve, withdraw, take to safety, come to the aid of, relieve, bail out*; see also save 1.

   Antonyms abandon, let slip from one's hands, relinquish.

2. To free

   deliver, liberate, extricate, release, emancipate, ransom, set free, unloose, put at liberty, unleash, manumit; see also free 1, ransom.

   Antonyms imprison*, capture*, jail.

rescue implies prompt action in freeing someone or something from imminent danger or destruction or in releasing someone from captivity the lifeguard rescued the drowning child; deliver implies a setting free from confinement or from some restricting situation deliver me from those interminable sermons; redeem suggests a freeing from bondage or from the consequences of sin, or a reclaiming, as from pawn or deterioration how can I redeem my good name?; ransom specifically implies the payment of what is demanded in order to free one held captive; save, in this connection, is a general, comprehensive synonym for any of the preceding terms