rush

Meaning

Noun

1. A sudden forward motion.
2. A surge.
3. General haste.
4. A rapid, noisy flow.
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.
7. The act of running at another player to block or disrupt play.
8. (dated) A rusher; a lineman.
9. A sudden, brief exhilaration, for instance the pleasurable sensation produced by a stimulant.
10. A regulated period of recruitment in fraternities and sororities.
11. A person attempting to join a fraternity or sorority as part of a rush.
12. (US, dated) A perfect recitation.
13. A roquet in which the object ball is sent to a particular location on the lawn.

Verb

1. (intransitive, transitive) To hurry; to perform a task with great haste, often not properly or without thinking carefully.
2. (intransitive) To flow or move forward rapidly or noisily.
3. (intransitive) To dribble rapidly.
4. (intransitive, transitive) To run directly at another player in order to block or disrupt play.
5. (transitive) To cause to move or act with unusual haste.
6. (intransitive) To make a swift or sudden attack.
7. (transitive) To swiftly attack without warning.
8. (slang, transitive) To attack (an opponent) with a large swarm of units.
9. (transitive) To transport or carry quickly.
10. (intransitive, transitive) To roquet an object ball to a particular location on the lawn.
11. (intransitive, transitive) To attempt to join a fraternity or sorority, often involving a hazing or initiation process.
12. (US, dated, slang) To recite (a lesson) or pass (an examination) without an error.
13. (intransitive) To play at a faster tempo than one is supposed to or than the other musicians one is playing with, or to inadvertently gradually increase tempo while one is playing.

Adj

Performed with, or requiring urgency or great haste, or done under pressure, especially if therefore done badly.

Opposite of

drag

Synonyms

hurry

dash

💨

hasten

speed

haste

race

run

make haste

charge

dart

🎯

scurry

lunge

in a hurry

surge

reed

tear

sprint

shoot

hustle

bolt

thrill

tear along

bustle

storm

drive on

stampede

leap

spurt

hie

flow

spate

rushing

step on it

hastily

scoot

gush

be hasty

gust

move quickly

fly

✈️

plunge

flood

bang

rushes

hurry up

hotfoot

hurtle

precipitance

quicken

attack

👊

Translations

hâte

se dépêcher

giunco

eilen

se précipiter

Eile

hetzen

affrettarsi

fretta

prisa

jonc

correre

se hâter

voortmaken

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɹʌʃ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: risshe

Inherited from Old English: rysċ

Cognate with Western Frisian: risk

Cognate with Dutch: rus

Cognate with Norwegian Bokmål: rusk

Cognate with Norwegian: ryskje

Cognate with Russian: розга

Inherited from Middle English: ruschen

Inherited from Old English: hrysċan

Cognate with Old High German: hursken

Cognate with Old English: horsc

Cognate with Old English: *rūscian

Cognate with Old High German: rosci

Cognate with Middle Low German: rūschen

Cognate with Middle High German: ruschen

Cognate with German: rauschen

Cognate with Northern Frisian: ruse

Cognate with Middle Dutch: ruuscen

Cognate with Middle Dutch: rusen

Cognate with Dutch: ruisen

Cognate with Danish: ruse

Cognate with Swedish: rusa

Cognate with Middle High German: rūsch

Cognate with Anglo-Norman: russer

Cognate with Old French: ruser

In summary

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 (“quick”), Middle Low German rûschen (“to rush”), Middle High German rūschen, riuschen (“to rush”) (German rauschen (“to rush”)), North Frisian ruse (“to rush”), Middle Dutch ruuscen (“to make haste”), Middle Dutch rūsen (“to rush”) (Dutch ruisen (“to rush”)), Danish ruse (“to rush”), Swedish rusa (“to rush”). Compare Middle High German rūsch (“a charge, rush”). Influenced by Middle English russhen (“to force back”) from Anglo-Norman russher, russer from Old French ruser, rëuser.
Alternatively, according to the OED, perhaps an adaptation of Anglo-Norman russher, russer (“to force back, down, out of place, by violent impact", "to pull out or drag off violently or hastily”), from Old French re(h)usser, ruser (although the connection of the forms with single -s- and double -ss- is dubious; also adopted in English ruse; French ruser (“to retreat, drive back”)), from an assumed Vulgar Latin *refūsāre and Latin refundō (“I cause to flow back”), although connection to the same Germanic root is also possible. More at rouse.

Sentences

We had to rush down the minute it happened !

I don't want to rush you .