Word.ws English Dictionary

rush

/ɹʌʃ/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northern England/ɹʊʃ/

rush noun: a sudden forward motion.

Noun (1)

rush (plural rushes)

  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 a series of eager little rushes like a timid dog on a choke chain.1963, Margery Allingham, “Meeting Point”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 228
    Synonyms:
    flush
  2. A surge.
    • A rush of business can be difficult to handle effectively for its unexpected volume.
    • It's a rush / To find someone before the sun comes up / To find someone before the beat is gone / Don't wanna leave all alone / Everybody scrambled to the floor once more1983, Ashford & Simpson, “Side Effect”, in High-Rise (album)
    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 slightest bothered.2023 November 29, Paul Clifton, “West is best in the Highlands”, in RAIL, number 997, page 38
  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. (contact sports) The act of running at another player to block or disrupt play.
    • a rush on the quarterback
  8. (dated) 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. (university slang) 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 women at other colleges across the country who are just starting the process...2021 August 17, Allie Jones, “#BamaRush, Explained”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 21 Aug 2021
  11. (university slang) 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 others do not get bids from any.2011 September 15, Abe Gutierrez, “To Rush Or Not To Rush: A Crash Course From A Brother Who Likes It”, in NYU Local, archived from the original on 09 Apr 2026
    • 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 the rushes in a room individually and tell them they didn’t get the bid, to see...2017 February 8, Youngweon Lee, “The Fraternity Rush Process As Told By Someone Who Knows Nothing About The Fraternity Rush Process”, in Bwog, archived from the original on 22 Sep 2022
  12. (US, dated, university slang) A perfect recitation.
  13. (croquet) A roquet in which the object ball is sent to a particular location on the lawn.

Verb

rush (third-person singular simple present rushes, present participle rushing, simple past and past participle rushed)

  1. (intransitive, transitive) 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 valleys.2013 August 16, John Vidal, “China and India 'water grab' dams put ecology of Himalayas in danger”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 10, archived from the original on 29 Apr 2021, page 8
  2. (intransitive) 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 from the foreſt nye.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 14, page 311
  3. (intransitive) To dribble rapidly.
  4. (intransitive, transitive, contact sports) To run directly at another player in order to block or disrupt play.
  5. (transitive) To cause to move or act with unusual haste.
    • Don't rush your client or he may withdraw.
  6. (intransitive) To make a swift or sudden attack.
  7. (transitive) To swiftly attack without warning.
    • A detachment of cavalrymen rushed the enemy's position.
  8. (slang, transitive) To attack (an opponent) with a large swarm of units.
    Synonyms:
    zerg
  9. (transitive) 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 Orleans.1964 June 16, “Surprise Strike Stops Traffic On 6 Railroads”, in The Indianapolis Star, volume 62, number 11, Indianapolis, Ind., page 3
  10. (intransitive, transitive, croquet) To roquet an object ball to a particular location on the lawn.
  11. (intransitive, transitive, university slang) 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.
    Antonyms:
    drag

Adjective

rush (not comparable)

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

Noun (2)

rush (plural rushes)

  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 of Nic’s Fetches to Keep John out of Ecclesdoun-Castle”, in Lewis Baboon Turned Honest, and John Bull Politician. Being the Fourth Part...
  4. A wick.

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Rush

Rush (countable and uncountable, plural Rushs or Rushes)

  1. A surname from English
  2. An English surname originating as an occupation for someone who made things from rushes.
  3. A surname from Irish
  4. A surname from German
  5. A male given name.
  6. A coastal town in Fingal, County Dublin, Ireland.
  7. An unincorporated community in El Paso County, Colorado, United States.
  8. An unincorporated community in Boyd County and Carter County, Kentucky, United States.
  9. A town in Monroe County, New York, United States.
  10. A number of townships, in Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania, United States, listed under Rush Township.
  11. (abbreviation, ellipsis) Ellipsis of Rush County.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: RUSH

RUSH

  1. A dialect of the programming language PL/I.

rush meaning in Kannada, Sanskrit, Tagalog and Arabic

rush in Kannada

ಧಾವಂತ

rush in Sanskrit

to flow or move forward rapidly or noisily
पापतीति pāpatīti

rush in Tagalog

sudden forward motion
pagmamadali
surge — see also surge
pagmamadali
haste
pagmamadali, kamotpusa
to hurry
magmadali

rush in Arabic

to hurry
اِنْدَفَعَ indafaʕa, أَسْرَعَ ʔasraʕa, هَرِعَ hariʕa, عَجِلَ ʕajila
plant
سَمَار samār

Examples of rush in a sentence

  • After a few rounds of these competitions, the rushes that survive to the end get a "bid." Again, kind of like an auction.2017 February 8, Youngweon Lee, “The Fraternity Rush Process As Told By Someone Who Knows Nothing About The Fraternity Rush Process”, in...
  • Like to an entred Tyde, they all ruſh by,[…]c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, &...
  • A party of men[…] shoud be ready to rush out; and upon the noise of the first shot immediately run down to the Gate and break in.c. 1683, Robert West, The further Exmaination of Robert West of the Middle-Temple, Barrister at Law:
  • Whirling wreaths and columns of burning wind, rushed around and over them.1892, James Yoxall, chapter 5, in The Lonely Pyramid:

All 40 example sentences with rush

Synonyms of rush

17 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of rush

Forms of rush

Noun
pluralrushes
Verb
third-person singular presentrushes
present participlerushing
past participlerushed
pastrushed
Proper noun
pluralRushs
pluralRushes

Past tense of rush: rushed

Plural of rush: rushes

Origin of rush

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...

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).

* As an English surname, from the noun rush (“waterside plant, plant in marshes”). * Also as an English surname, from the archaic noun rush (“beehive”), from French ruche. * As an Irish surname, from Ó Ruis (literally “descendant of Ros”), a name from ros (“wood”). Sometimes also translated from Ó Luachra due to confusion with luachair (“rushes”), see Loughrey. * Also as an Irish surname, translated/Anglicized from Ó Fuada (literally “descendant of Fuada”), compare Foody, from the noun fuad (“haste”). * As a German surname, Americanized from Rüsch, Ruesch, Rusch.

Words formed from rush

Phrases with rush

18 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with rush

9 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about rush

What does rush mean?
Rush means a sudden forward motion.
What is rush in Kannada?
Rush in Kannada is ಧಾವಂತ. See Rush meaning in Kannada.
How do you use rush in a sentence?
After a few rounds of these competitions, the rushes that survive to the end get a "bid." Again, kind of like an auction.
What part of speech is rush?
Rush can be a noun, a verb, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce rush?
Rush is pronounced /ɹʌʃ/.
What is the plural of rush?
The plural of rush is rushes.

Words near rush in the dictionary

  1. rused
  2. ruses
  3. ruses de guerre
  4. Rusev
  5. rusfertide
  6. rush
  7. rush and roulette
  8. rush candle
  9. rush candles
  10. Rush Center
  11. Rush County

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: rush (page history and authors); Rush (page history and authors); RUSH (page history and authors); rush (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-rush.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-rush.wav.

Cite this entry: “rush.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rush. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.