Meaning and Origin
What does the name Rush mean? Keep reading to find the user submitted meanings, dictionary definitions, and more.
User Submitted Origins
User Submitted Meanings
- A user from California, U.S. says the name Rush means "Handsome".
- [Bot] A name given to many aquatic or marsh-growing endogenous plants with soft, slender stems, as the species of Juncus and Scirpus.
- The merest trifle; a straw."John Bull's friendship is not worth a rush." [Arbuthnot.]
Note: ☞ Some species are used in bottoming chairs and plaiting mats, and the pith is used in some places for wicks to lamps and rushlights.
Etymology: OE. rusche rische resche, AS. risce, akin to LG. rusk risch, D. & G. rusch; all probably fr. L. ruscum butcher's broom; akin to Goth. raus reed, G. rohr
- To move forward with impetuosity, violence, and tumultuous rapidity or haste; as, armies rush to battle; waters rush down a precipice."Like to an entered tide, they all rush by." [Shak.]
- To enter into something with undue haste and eagerness, or without due deliberation and preparation; as, to rush business or speculation."They . . . never think it to be a part of religion to rush into the office of princes and ministers." [Sprat.]
Etymology: OE. ruschen; cf. AS. hryscan to make a noise, D. ruischen to rustle, G. rauschen, MHG. rūschen to rush, to rustle, LG. rusken, OSw. ruska, Icel. & Sw. ruska to shake, Dan. ruske to shake, and E. rouse
- To push or urge forward with impetuosity or violence; to hurry forward.
- To recite (a lesson) or pass (an examination) without an error.(College Cant, U.S)
- A moving forward with rapidity and force or eagerness; a violent motion or course; as, a rush of troops; a rush of winds; a rush of water."A gentleman of his train spurred up his horse, and, with a violent rush, severed him from the duke." [Sir H. Wotton.]
- Great activity with pressure; as, a rush of business.(Colloq)
- A perfect recitation.(College Cant, U.S)
- [Football]
- A rusher; as, the center rush, whose place is in the center of the rush line; the end rush .
- The act of running with the ball.
- A rusher; as, the center rush, whose place is in the center of the rush line; the end rush .
- The act of moving hurriedly and in a careless manner
- (American football) an attempt to advance the ball by running into the line ("the linebackers were ready to stop a rush")
- A sudden burst of activity ("come back after the rush")
- A sudden forceful flow
- The swift release of a store of affective force ("he got a quick rush from injecting heroin")
- Physician and American Revolutionary leader; signer of the Declaration of Independence (1745-1813)
- Grasslike plants growing in wet places and having cylindrical often hollow stems
- Urge to an unnatural speed ("Don't rush me, please!")
- Act or move at high speed ("We have to rush!")
- Attack suddenly
- Cause to occur rapidly
- Move hurridly ("He rushed down the hall to receive his guests")
- Cause to move fast or to rush or race
- Run with the ball, in football
- Done under pressure ("a rush job")
- Not accepting reservations
From Middle English rusch, risch, from Old English rysc, risc, from Proto-Germanic *ruskijō (compare West Frisian risk, Dutch rus (“bulrush”), dialectal Norwegian ryskje (“hair-grass”)), from Proto-Indo-European *resg- ‘to plait, wattle’ (compare Irish rusg (“bark”), Latin restis (“rope”), Latvian režģis ‘basketwork’, Albanian rrush (“grapes”), Serbo-Croatian rògoz (“reed”), Ancient Greek ἄρριχος (árrhikhos, “basket”), Persian رغزه (raɣza, “woollen cloth”)).
- 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.
Perhaps from Middle English ruschen, russchen (“to rush, startle”), from Old English hryscan, hrȳscan (“to jolt, startle”), from Proto-Germanic *hurskijaną (“to startle, drive”), from *hurskaz (“fast, rapid, quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *kors- (“to run, hurry”). Cognate with Old High German hurscan (“to speed, accelerate”), Old English horsc (“quick, quick-witted, clever”). More at hurry.
- A sudden forward motion.
- A surge.
- A of business can be difficult to handle effectively for its unexpected volume.
-
- General haste.
- Many errors were made in the to finish.
-
- A rapid, noisy flow.
- a of water; a of footsteps
-
- (military) A sudden attack; an onslaught.
- (contact sports) The act of running at another player to block or disrupt play.
- a on the quarterback
-
- (American football, dated) A rusher; a lineman.
- the center , whose place is in the center of the rush line
- A sudden, brief exhilaration, for instance the pleasurable sensation produced by a stimulant.
- The rollercoaster gave me a .
-
- (US, figuratively) A regulated period of recruitment in fraternities and sororities.
- week
-
- (US, dated, college slang) A perfect recitation.
- (croquet) A roquet in which the object ball is sent to a particular location on the lawn.
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 rosc, rosci (“quick”), Middle Low German rūschen (“to rush”), Middle High German rūschen, riuschen (“to rush”) (German rauschen (“to rush”)), North Frisian ruse (“to rush”), Middle Dutch ruuscen (“to make haste”), Middle Dutch rūsen (“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 russher, russer from Old French ruser, rëuser.
Alternatively, according to the OED, perhaps an adaptation of Anglo-Norman russher, russer (“to force back, down, out of place, by violent impact", "to pull out or drag off violently or hastily”), from Old French re(h)usser, ruser (although the connection of the forms with single -s- and double -ss- is dubious; also adopted in English ruse; French ruser (“to retreat, drive back”)), from an assumed Vulgar Latin *refusō and Latin refundō (“I cause to flow back”), although connection to the same Germanic root is also possible. More at rouse.
- A sudden forward motion.
- A surge.
- A of business can be difficult to handle effectively for its unexpected volume.
-
- General haste.
- Many errors were made in the to finish.
-
- A rapid, noisy flow.
- a of water; a of footsteps
-
- (military) A sudden attack; an onslaught.
- (contact sports) The act of running at another player to block or disrupt play.
- a on the quarterback
-
- (American football, dated) A rusher; a lineman.
- the center , whose place is in the center of the rush line
- A sudden, brief exhilaration, for instance the pleasurable sensation produced by a stimulant.
- The rollercoaster gave me a .
-
- (US, figuratively) A regulated period of recruitment in fraternities and sororities.
- week
-
- (US, dated, college slang) A perfect recitation.
- (croquet) A roquet in which the object ball is sent to a particular location on the lawn.