rush

Meanings

Noun

• 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.
• The stem of such plants used in making baskets, mats, the seats of chairs, etc.
• The merest trifle; a straw.
• A wick.
• A sudden forward motion.
• A surge.
• General haste.
• A rapid, noisy flow.
• A sudden attack; an onslaught.
• The strategy of attacking an opponent with a large swarm of weak units, rather than spending time developing their abilities.
• The act of running at another player to block or disrupt play.
• A rusher; a lineman.
• A sudden, brief exhilaration, for instance the pleasurable sensation produced by a stimulant.
• A regulated period of recruitment in fraternities and sororities.
• A perfect recitation.
• A roquet in which the object ball is sent to a particular location on the lawn.

Verb

• To hurry; to perform a task with great haste.
• To flow or move forward rapidly or noisily.
• To dribble rapidly.
• To run directly at another player in order to block or disrupt play.
• To cause to move or act with unusual haste.
• To make a swift or sudden attack.
• To swiftly attack without warning.
• To attack (an opponent) with a large swarm of units.
• To attempt to join a fraternity or sorority; to undergo hazing or initiation in order to join a fraternity or sorority.
• To transport or carry quickly.
• To roquet an object ball to a particular location on the lawn.
• To recite (a lesson) or pass (an examination) without an error.

Adjective

• Performed with, or requiring urgency or great haste, or done under pressure.

Related

Similar words

• juncus

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 *resg- and Proto-West Germanic *ruskijā, borrowed from Latin rūscum, of unknown origin + *-jā. Cognates include West Frisian risk, Dutch rus ("bulrush"), Norwegian Bokmål rusk, dialectal Norwegian ryskje ("hair-grass").
• Perhaps from Middle English ruschen, russchen, from Old English hrysċan, from Proto-Germanic *hurskijaną, from *hurskaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers-.
• Cognate with Old High German hurscan ("to speed, accelerate"), Old English horsc ("quick, quick-witted, clever").
• An alternative etymology traces rush via Middle English rouschen ("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 rosci ("quick"), Middle Low German rūschen ("to rush"), Middle High German ruschen ("to rush") (German rauschen ("to rush")), North Frisian ruse ("to rush"), Middle Dutch ruuscen ("to make haste"), Middle Dutch rusen ("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 russer from Old French ruser.
• Alternatively, according to the OED, perhaps an adaptation of Anglo-Norman russher, russer, from Old French rehusser, ruser (although the connection of the forms with single -s- and double -ss- is dubious; also adopted in English ruse; French ruser), from an assumed Vulgar Latin *refusō and Latin refundō, although connection to the same Germanic root is also possible. More at rouse.