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Added 8 October 2026

rush

/ɹʌʃ/ noun

In Latin: festīnō, vado Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about rush at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A sudden forward motion.
A surge, a sudden increase.
A rush of business can be difficult to handle effectively for its unexpected volume.
General haste; hurried activity.
Many errors were made in the rush to finish.

verb

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
To flow or move forward rapidly or noisily.
armies rush to battle; waters rush down a precipice.
To dribble rapidly.

adjective

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

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.

Origin

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”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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