Rescue means to save someone or something from danger, harm, or a difficult situation. When firefighters pull people from a burning building, they're performing a rescue. When a lifeguard swims out to help a struggling swimmer, that's a rescue too.

The word captures that moment when someone in trouble gets help they desperately need. A mountain climber trapped on a ledge waits for a rescue team. A family adopts a dog from an animal shelter, giving it a rescue from an uncertain future. During floods or earthquakes, rescue workers search for people who need help.

Rescue suggests urgency and real danger. You wouldn't say someone rescued you from boredom during a long car ride, though you might jokingly say they “saved” you. True rescue means pulling someone back from genuine peril.

A rescuer is someone who performs rescues, and people being saved are the rescued. Sometimes animals become rescue specialists themselves: dogs can be trained for search and rescue work, finding lost hikers or people trapped in rubble after disasters.