rush

A sudden forward motion.

Adjective

  1. Performed with, or requiring urgency or great haste, or done under pressure, especially if therefore done badly.
    • a rush job

Origin

Perhaps from Middle English ruschen, russchen (“to rush, startle, make a loud rushing noise”), from Old English hrysċan (“to jolt, startle”), from Proto-West Germanic *hurskijan, from Proto-Germanic *hurskijaną (“to startle, drive”), from *hurskaz (“fast, rapid, quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run, hurry”). Cognate with Old High German hursken (“to hurry, speed, incite, accelerate”), Old English horsċ (“quick, quick-witted, clever”), Old Frisian rosk, rosch (“quick, rapid, sudden”). etymology note An alternative etymology traces rush via Middle English ruschen (“to rush”) from Old English *rūscian (“to rush”) from Proto-Germanic *rūskōną (“to rush, storm, be fierce, be cruel”), a variant (with formative k) of Proto-Germanic *rūsōną (“to be cruel, storm, rush”) from Proto-Indo-European *(o)rewə- (“to drive, move, agitate”), making it akin to Old High German rosc, rosci...

Noun Entry 2

  1. A sudden forward motion.
    • A gentleman of his train spurred up his horse, and, with a violent rush, severed him from the duke. - 1642, Henry Wotton, A Short View of the Life and Death of George Villiers:
    • When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. […]. The captive made no resistance and came not only quietly but in...

    Synonyms: flush

  2. A surge.
    • A rush of business can be difficult to handle effectively for its unexpected volume.

    Synonyms: flush

  3. General haste.
    • Many errors were made in the rush to finish.
    • Diane makes an announcement to the patient passengers on the quarter-full train. There is no sense of rush - time really does move more slowly in the Highlands. The passengers, nearly all tourists, don't seem in the...
  4. A rapid, noisy flow.
    • a rush of water; a rush of footsteps
  5. A sudden attack; an onslaught.
  6. The strategy of attacking an opponent with a large swarm of weak units, rather than spending time developing their abilities.

    Synonyms: zerg

  7. The act of running at another player to block or disrupt play.
    • a rush on the quarterback
  8. A rusher; a lineman.
    • the center rush, whose place is in the center of the rush line
  9. A sudden, brief exhilaration, for instance the pleasurable sensation produced by a stimulant.
    • The rollercoaster gave me a rush.
    • She felt the familiar cocaine rush soon after injecting herself.
  10. A regulated period of recruitment in fraternities and sororities.
    • rush week
    • The trend burst through last week during sorority rush at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, but it continues today in the form of parody videos, deep dives on the status of various recruits and rush videos from...
    • […]daily “OOTDs” (outfits of the day), rush recap videos from freshly tanned and coiffed prospective new members (PNMs), and reactions to 18-year-old girls either elated or devastated by the high-stakes game of...
  11. A person attempting to join a fraternity or sorority as part of a rush.
    • At the end of rush, the fraternities vote on who they want to extend invitations to join, and the rushes can then make their selection from the bids they get. Some rushes get bids from multiple fraternities, while...
    • After a few rounds of these competitions, the rushes that survive to the end get a "bid." Again, kind of like an auction. They don’t come in nice envelopes like sororities, though. Usually what happens is that they put...
  12. A perfect recitation.

Forms

rushes

Derived

adrenaline rush backrush boss rush bum rush bum's rush feudal rush gold rush goldrush green rush headrush inrush landrush onrush outrush pass rush rushaholic rushbearer rushbearing rush defence rushee rush goalie rush hour rush job rush of blood

Noun Entry 3

  1. Any of several stiff plants of the genus Juncus, or the family Juncaceae, having hollow or pithy stems and small flowers, and often growing in marshes or near water.

    Synonyms: juncus

  2. The stem of such plants used in making baskets, mats, the seats of chairs, etc.
  3. The merest trifle; a straw.
    • [W]hat occaſion haſt thou to give up Eccleſdoun-Caſtle to John Bull? his Friendſhip is not vvorth a Ruſh, give it me and I'll make it vvorth the vvhile. - 1712, Humphry Polesworth [pseudonym; John Arbuthnot], “The Rest...
  4. A wick.

Origin

From Middle English risshe, rusch, risch, from Old English rysċ, rysċe, risċ, risċe, from a merger of Proto-West Germanic *riskijā, from Proto-Indo-European *(H)resg- (“to weave”) and Proto-West Germanic *ruskijā, possibly borrowed from Latin rūscum (“butcher's broom”), of unknown origin + *-jā (animal and plant suffix). Cognates include West Frisian risk, Dutch rus (“bulrush”), Norwegian Bokmål rusk, dialectal Norwegian ryskje (“hair-grass”). Further cognates include Russian ро́зга (rózga).

Forms

rushes

Related

rushes

Derived

Baltic rush basket rush bogrush club rush clubrush common rush dirty rush Dutch rush flowering rush heath rush long-beaked bald rush nutrush path rush rushbuckler rush candle rushfoil rush holder rushlight rushlike rush lily rush nut rush ring rush skeletonweed rush toad

Verb

  1. To hurry; to perform a task with great haste, often not properly or without thinking carefully.
    • rush one's dinner; rush off an email response
    • Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest...
  2. To flow or move forward rapidly or noisily.
    • armies rush to battle; waters rush down a precipice.
    • For with ſuch puiſſance and impetuous maine / Thoſe Champions broke on them, that forſt the fly, / Like ſcattered Sheepe, whenas the Shepherds ſwaine / A Lyon and a Tigre doth eſpye, / With greedy pace forth ruſhing...
    • [V]pon a ſodaine, / As Falſtaffe, ſhe, and I, are newly met, / Let them [children dressed like "urchins, ouphes and fairies"] from forth a ſaw-pit ruſh at once / With ſome diffuſed ſong: Vpon their ſight / We two, in...
  3. To dribble rapidly.
  4. To run directly at another player in order to block or disrupt play.
  5. To cause to move or act with unusual haste.
    • Don't rush your client or he may withdraw.
  6. To make a swift or sudden attack.
  7. To swiftly attack without warning.
    • A detachment of cavalrymen rushed the enemy's position.
  8. To attack (an opponent) with a large swarm of units.

    Synonyms: zerg

  9. To transport or carry quickly.
    • The shuttle rushes passengers from the station to the airport.
    • The harvest is now in full swing in the Great Plains and efforts are being made to rush the grain from the fields to the country elevators and then to the large terminals, such as Kansas City, Houston, Galveston and New...
  10. To roquet an object ball to a particular location on the lawn.
  11. To attempt to join a fraternity or sorority, often involving a hazing or initiation process.
  12. To recite (a lesson) or pass (an examination) without an error.

Forms

rushes rushing rushed

Synonyms

fly scramble get a move on hasten haul hurtle bustle haul ass haul one's ashes hie hump it hurry hustle make haste make tracks move it rattle one's hocks rush scream shift skedaddle swap speed zip

Hyponyms

blitz bomb it cane cane it hoon hoon it race scurry vamoose

Related

quickly reckless speed up speedy

Derived

bum-rush downrush inrush onrush outrush rusher rush in rushing rush off rush out rush to judgement uprush