1. To save someone or something from a dangerous or harmful situation: "The boys had to be rescued when the ice broke in the lake."
2. To prevent something from being discarded, rejected, or put out of operation.
3. Etymology: from the stem of Old French rescourre, "to shake loose"; from re-, intensive prefix, + escourre, "to cast off, to discharge"; from Latin escutere, excutere, "to shake off, to drive away"; from ex-, "out" + -cutere, a combining form of quatere, "to shake".

The emergency cesarean delivery of a baby endanged during child labor or unsuccessful vaginal birth: Indications for the need of an abdominal rescue include fetal distress (fetal hypoxia or low oxygen levels in the fetus) associated with dystocia (difficult or painful childbirth labor or delivery), arrested descent (interruption in the labor process), abruptio placentae (placenta prematurely separating from the wall of the uterus), or umbilical cord prolapse (slipping or falling out of place).

The branch of archaeology devoted to studying artifacts and features on sites which are imminently threatened by development in the form of the construction of dams, buildings, highways, etc,: Rescue archaeology is concerned with the threats to archaeological remains occurring in the form of road-building, road improvement, new building of houses, offices, and industrial complexes, the flooding of valleys for reservoirs, and improved farming techniques involving the use of deep plowing.

The rescue, or salvage, archaeologist, is concerned with the retrieval of as much information as possible about the archaeological sites before they are damaged or destroyed. Frequently time is too short and funds are too limited for anything but a brief survey.