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rush1

[ruhsh] /rʌʃ/
verb (used without object)
1.
to move, act, or progress with speed, impetuosity, or violence.
2.
to dash, especially to dash forward for an attack or onslaught.
3.
to appear, go, pass, etc., rapidly or suddenly:
The blood rushed to his face.
4.
Football. to carry the ball on a running play or plays.
verb (used with object)
5.
to perform, accomplish, or finish with speed, impetuosity, or violence:
They rushed the work to make the deadline.
6.
to carry or convey with haste:
to rush an injured person to the hospital.
7.
to cause to move, act, or progress quickly; hurry:
He rushed his roommate to get to the party on time.
8.
to send, push, force, impel, etc., with unusual speed or haste:
to rush a bill through Congress.
9.
to attack suddenly and violently; charge.
10.
to overcome or capture (a person, place, etc.).
11.
Informal. to heap attentions on; court intensively; woo:
to rush an attractive newcomer.
12.
to entertain (a prospective fraternity or sorority member) before making bids for membership.
13.
Football.
  1. to carry (the ball) forward across the line of scrimmage.
  2. to carry the ball (a distance) forward from the line of scrimmage:
    The home team rushed 145 yards.
  3. (of a defensive team member) to attempt to force a way quickly into the backfield in pursuit of (the back in possession of the ball).
noun
14.
the act of rushing; a rapid, impetuous, or violent onward movement.
15.
a hostile attack.
16.
an eager rushing of numbers of persons to some region that is being occupied or exploited, especially because of a new mine:
the gold rush to California.
17.
a sudden appearance or access:
a rush of tears.
18.
hurried activity; busy haste:
the rush of city life.
19.
a hurried state, as from pressure of affairs:
to be in a rush.
20.
press of work, business, traffic, etc., requiring extraordinary effort or haste.
21.
Football.
  1. an attempt to carry or instance of carrying the ball across the line of scrimmage.
  2. an act or instance of rushing the offensive back in possession of the ball.
22.
a scrimmage held as a form of sport between classes or bodies of students in colleges.
23.
rushes, Movies. daily (def 4).
24.
Informal. a series of lavish attentions paid a woman by a suitor:
He gave her a big rush.
25.
the rushing by a fraternity or sorority.
26.
Also called flash. Slang. the initial, intensely pleasurable or exhilarated feeling experienced upon taking a narcotic or stimulant drug.
adjective
27.
requiring or done in haste:
a rush order; rush work.
28.
characterized by excessive business, a press of work or traffic, etc.:
The cafeteria's rush period was from noon to two in the afternoon.
29.
characterized by the rushing of potential new members by a sorority or fraternity:
rush week on the university campus.
Origin of rush1
1325-1375
1325-75; (v.) Middle English ruschen < Anglo-French russher, russer, Old French re(h)usser, re(h)user, ruser < Late Latin recūsāre, to push back, Latin: to refuse. See recuse, ruse; (noun) Middle English rus(s)che, derivative of the v.
Related forms
rushingly, adverb
unrushed, adjective
Synonyms
1. hasten, run. Rush, hurry, dash, speed imply swiftness of movement. Rush implies haste and sometimes violence in motion through some distance: to rush to the store. Hurry suggests a sense of strain or agitation, a breathless rushing to get to a definite place by a certain time: to hurry to an appointment. Dash implies impetuosity or spirited, swift movement for a short distance: to dash to the neighbor's. Speed means to go fast, usually by means of some type of transportation, and with some smoothness of motion: to speed to a nearby city.
Antonyms
18. sloth, lethargy.

rush2

[ruhsh] /rʌʃ/
noun
1.
any grasslike plant of the genus Juncus, having pithy or hollow stems, found in wet or marshy places.
Compare rush family.
2.
any plant of the rush family.
3.
any of various similar plants.
4.
a stem of such a plant, used for making chair bottoms, mats, baskets, etc.
5.
something of little or no value; trifle:
not worth a rush.
Origin
before 900; Middle English rusch, risch, Old English rysc, risc; cognate with Dutch, obsolete German Rusch
Related forms
rushlike, adjective

Rush

[ruhsh] /rʌʃ/
noun
1.
Benjamin, 1745–1813, U.S. physician and political leader: author of medical treatises.
2.
his son, Richard, 1780–1859, U.S. lawyer, politician, and diplomat.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2017.
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Examples from the Web for rush
Contemporary Examples
Historical Examples
  • The rush for intellectual work is more likely to be too small than too great.

    The New Society Walther Rathenau
  • I'll rush the work here and I'll keep Fleckenstein out of Congress.

    Still Jim Honor Willsie Morrow
  • Would she rush into the presence of her Maker with a lie on her lips?

    Love and Intrigue Friedrich Schiller
  • And with one rush the true state of affairs swept over Clif.

    A Prisoner of Morro Upton Sinclair
  • I am so confused and bewildered by the rush of the great city.

    After Prison - What? Maud Ballington Booth
British Dictionary definitions for rush

rush1

/rʌʃ/
verb
1.
to hurry or cause to hurry; hasten
2.
to make a sudden attack upon (a fortress, position, person, etc)
3.
when intr, often foll by at, in or into. to proceed or approach in a reckless manner
4.
rush one's fences, to proceed with precipitate haste
5.
(intransitive) to come, flow, swell, etc, quickly or suddenly: tears rushed to her eyes
6.
(slang) to cheat, esp by grossly overcharging
7.
(transitive) (US & Canadian) to make a concerted effort to secure the agreement, participation, etc, of (a person)
8.
(intransitive) (American football) to gain ground by running forwards with the ball
noun
9.
the act or condition of rushing
10.
a sudden surge towards someone or something: a gold rush
11.
a sudden surge of sensation, esp produced by a drug
12.
a sudden demand
adjective (prenominal)
13.
requiring speed or urgency: a rush job
14.
characterized by much movement, business, etc: a rush period
Derived Forms
rusher, noun
Word Origin
C14 ruschen, from Old French ruser to put to flight, from Latin recūsāre to refuse, reject

rush2

/rʌʃ/
noun
1.
any annual or perennial plant of the genus Juncus, growing in wet places and typically having grasslike cylindrical leaves and small green or brown flowers: family Juncaceae Many species are used to make baskets
2.
any of various similar or related plants, such as the woodrush, scouring rush, and spike-rush
3.
something valueless; a trifle; straw: not worth a rush
4.
short for rush light
Derived Forms
rushlike, adjective
Word Origin
Old English risce, rysce; related to Middle Dutch risch, Norwegian rusk, Old Slavonic rozga twig, rod
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word Origin and History for rush
v.

mid-14c. (implied in rushing), "to drive back or down," from Anglo-French russher, from Old French ruser "to dodge, repel" (see ruse). Meaning "to do something quickly" is from 1650s; transitive sense of "to hurry up (someone or something)" is from 1850. U.S. Football sense originally was in rugby (1857).

Fraternity/sorority sense is from 1896 (originally it was what the fraternity did to the student); from 1899 as a noun in this sense. Earlier it was a name on U.S. campuses for various tests of strength or athletic skill between freshmen and sophomores as classes (1860).

n.

"plant growing in marshy ground," Old English resc, earlier risc, from Proto-Germanic *rusk- (cf. Middle Low German rusch, Middle High German rusch, German Rausch, West Frisian risk, Dutch rusch), from PIE *rezg- "to plait, weave, wind" (cf. Latin restis "cord, rope").

Old French rusche probably is from a Germanic source. Used for making torches and finger rings, also strewn on floors when visitors arrived; it was attested a type of "something of no value" from c.1300. See OED for spelling variations.

"a hasty driving forward," late 14c., from rush (v.). Sense of "mass migration of people" (especially to a gold field) is from 1848, American English. Football/rugby sense from 1857. Meaning "surge of pleasure" is from 1960s. Rush hour first recorded 1888. Rush order from 1896.

n.1

"plant growing in marshy ground," Old English resc, earlier risc, from Proto-Germanic *rusk- (cf. Middle Low German rusch, Middle High German rusch, German Rausch, West Frisian risk, Dutch rusch), from PIE *rezg- "to plait, weave, wind" (cf. Latin restis "cord, rope").

Old French rusche probably is from a Germanic source. Used for making torches and finger rings, also strewn on floors when visitors arrived; it was attested a type of "something of no value" from c.1300. See OED for spelling variations.

n.2

"a hasty driving forward," late 14c., from rush (v.). Sense of "mass migration of people" (especially to a gold field) is from 1848, American English. Football/rugby sense from 1857. Meaning "surge of pleasure" is from 1960s. Rush hour first recorded 1888. Rush order from 1896.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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rush in Medicine

Rush (rŭsh), Benjamin. 1745-1813.

American physician, politician, and educator. A signer of the Declaration of Independence, he promoted the humane treatment of the mentally ill.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Slang definitions & phrases for rush

rush

noun

  1. : appears to want to give her a big rush
  2. A motion-picture print made immediately after the scene is shot (1924+ Movie studio)
  3. An intense flood of pleasure, with quickened heart rate, felt soon after ingestion of a narcotic: He didn't have to wait long for the rush (1960s+ Narcotics)
  4. A surge of pleasure; an ecstasy: To Friend, it's a kind of a rush, the last big high/ gives her a unique rush (1960s+)

verb

  1. To court a woman ardently: He had ''rushed'' her, she said, for several months (1899+)
  2. o entertain and cultivate a student wanted as a fraternity or sorority member (1890s+ College students)
The Dictionary of American Slang, Fourth Edition by Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD. and Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D.
Copyright (C) 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers.
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Idioms and Phrases with rush
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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7
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