Definition of "rush"

rush¹

/ɹʌʃ/

noun
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.
2. The stem of such plants used in making baskets, mats, the seats of chairs, etc.
3. The merest trifle; a straw.
  Quotations
  [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 of Law is a Bottomless-Pit. […], London: […] John Morphew, […], page 32
4. A wick.

rush²

/ɹʌʃ/

noun
plural rushes
1. A sudden forward motion.
  Quotations
  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, page 228
2. A surge.
3. General haste.
  Quotations
  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.
5. (military) A sudden attack; an onslaught.
6. (video games) The strategy of attacking an opponent with a large swarm of weak units, rather than spending time developing their abilities.
7. (contact sports) The act of running at another player to block or disrupt play.
8. (American football, dated) A rusher; a lineman.
9. A sudden, brief exhilaration, for instance the pleasurable sensation produced by a stimulant.
10. (university slang) A regulated period of recruitment in fraternities and sororities.
  Quotations
  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 themselves.
  2021 August 17, Allie Jones, “#BamaRush, Explained”, in The New York Times‎
  […] daily “OOTDs” (outfits of the day), rush recap videos from freshly tanned and coiffed prospective new members (PNMs), and reactions to 18-year-old girls either elated or devastated by the high-stakes game of likability that is rush.
  2023 May 24, Adrian Horton, “‘Competitive femininity’: inside the wild and secretive world of sororities”, in The Guardian‎
11. (university slang) A person attempting to join a fraternity or sorority as part of a rush.
  Quotations
  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
  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 how sad they get. If they get really sad, the fraternity brothers come to the room and congratulate them on being accepted to the fraternity. Then, the rushes become pledges.
  2017 February 8, Youngweon Lee, “The Fraternity Rush Process As Told By Someone Who Knows Nothing About The Fraternity Rush Process”, in Bwog‎
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
third-person singular simple present rushes, present participle rushing, simple past and past participle rushed
1. (transitive or intransitive) To hurry; to perform a task with great haste, often not properly or without thinking carefully.
  Quotations
  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
  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, “Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 10, page 8
2. (intransitive) To flow or move forward rapidly or noisily.
  Quotations
  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, stanza 14, page 311
  [V]pon a ſodaine, / As Falſtaffe, ſhe, and I, are newly met, / Let them [children dressed like "urchins, ouphes and fairies"] from forth a ſaw-pit ruſh at once / With ſome diffuſed ſong: Vpon their ſight / We two, in great amazedneſſe will flye: […]
  c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act IV, scene iv], page 56, column 1
  Like to an entred Tyde, they all ruſh by, […]
  c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene iii], column 1
  The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. Whirling wreaths and columns of burning wind, rushed around and over them.
  1892, James Yoxall, chapter 5, in The Lonely Pyramid
3. (intransitive, soccer) To dribble rapidly.
4. (transitive or intransitive, 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.
6. (intransitive, military) To make a swift or sudden attack.
7. (military) To swiftly attack without warning.
8. (video games, slang, transitive) To attack (an opponent) with a large swarm of units.
9. (transitive) To transport or carry quickly.
  Quotations
  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. (transitive or intransitive, croquet) To roquet an object ball to a particular location on the lawn.
11. (transitive or intransitive, university slang) To attempt to join a fraternity or sorority, often involving a hazing or initiation process.
12. (US, slang, dated) To recite (a lesson) or pass (an examination) without an error.
13. (intransitive, music) 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.
adjective
not comparable
1. Performed with, or requiring urgency or great haste, or done under pressure, especially if therefore done badly.

Definition of "rush"

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verb

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adjective

rush¹

rush²