Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(a) (Aus./US) to charge, to assault.

1852		G.C. Mundy Our Antipodes II 185: The gallant Philpotts [...] proposed ‘to rush the hills’ if supported by the soldiers, and drive off these daring savages.
1859		Bell’s Life in Sydney 23 Apr. 3/3: [Inspector] Singleton ‘rushed the crib’ to make a bargain which the gamesters had not bargained for.
1899		Boy’s Own Paper 11 Mar. 371: ‘Rush ’em,’ said the Captain hoarsely.
1908		Magnet 14 Mar. 8: We’ll rush them all of a sudden and make the fur fly.
1910		L.A. Herald 28 Feb. 6/1: This new series of punches is not one-two at all, but is one-two-three-four-five, being an improvement on the one-two business, as is to be used when Jeff rushes the coon.
1917		Union Jack 5 May 17: Come on, you chaps! All together! Rush ’em!
1924		P. Marks Plastic Age 60: There are three of those guys that I’m layin’ for. Just wait till the class rush.
1930		G. Milburn ‘The Dealer Gets It All’ in Hobo’s Hornbook 151: But the reubens they was horstile, and they banded forty strong, / And rushed me on the main stem like a bunch o’ steers gone wrong.
1940		O. Strange Sudden Takes the Trail 56: We oughta rushed ’em.
1967		P. Thomas Down These Mean Streets (1970) 284: The hacks poured cold water on the guys. So they rushed the hacks and it was murder.
1999		Indep. 11 Sept. 7: A reporter [...] suggested rushing the bouncers to get through.

(b) to make advances toward, of a non-sexual nature.

1878		‘’Arry on Politics’ in Punch 11 May 205/2: Guess we don’t go in with the Softies as Rushia ’as managed to rush.
1964		E. Shrake But Not For Love 24: [M]y proxy guys are rushing him like he was the sweetheart of the student body.

(c) (US campus/W.I.) to make a pass at, to court, to make sexual advances towards.

1899		F. Norris McTeague (1958) 168: Marcus had ‘taken up with’ Selina a little after Trina had married, and had been ‘rushing’ her ever since.
1902		Ade Forty Modern Fables 1: A dark-eyed Maiden was being Rushed by a Cheap Man and a Provider.
1928		A.C. Inman 7 Apr. diary in Aaron (1985) 364: He rushed me to beat the band. I liked it.
1932		‘R. Scully’ Scarlet Pansy 301: Don’t you remember how La Bull Mawgan rushed me at Fish’s party?
1949		Wodehouse Mating Season 71: And all this rushing Gertrude is just a ruse?
1951		J.D. Salinger Catcher in the Rye (1958) 112: She told me about some Harvard guy [...] that was rushing hell out of her. Calling her up night and day.
1970		F. Collymore Notes for Gloss. of Barbadian Dial. 98: Who’s the girl your brother’s rushing now?
1989		P. Munro Sl. U. 162: rush to make a pass at.
1999		(con. 1979–80) A. Wheatle Brixton Rock (2004) 77: She did rush me, innit. I didn’t want to shame her in front of her spars if I said no.

(d) to cheat, to overcharge, the victim is not given time to think.

1885		Punch 24 Jan. 42: But, in affairs of empire, Have you ever been fogged – or rushed? [F&H].
1898		Newcastle Courant 20 Aug. 5/2: I watched [...] gypsy-looking horse copers endeavouring to ‘rush’ a deal with a shy countryman .
1928		C. McKay Home to Harlem 33: A black waiter rushed the mulatress.
1957		G. Kersh Fowlers End (2001) 16: Bet he’ll rush you half a crown extra, heh-heh-heh!

(e) (US campus) to pay court to a student with the hope of having them join a fraternity; also fig.; thus rushing n.

1878		North Amer. Rev. (Century) 236: Hazing, rushing, secret societies [...] are unknown at Oxford and Cambridge [DA].
1896		W.C. Gore Student Sl. in Cohen (1997) 21: rush v. To entertain a student in various ways, with the view of inducing him to join a fraternity.
1900		E.H. Babbitt ‘College Words and Phrases’ in DN II:i 56: rush, v. To entertain a freshman preparatory to taking him into a society.
1925		S. Lewis Arrowsmith 21: He had been ‘rushed,’ but he had resented the condescension of the aristocracy of men from the larger cities.
1931		V. Carter ‘University of Missouri Sl.’ in AS VI:3 205: rush: pay a great deal of attention to a person, particularly a prospective member of an organization.
1946		E.B. Thompson Amer. Daughter 173: There were a lot of students who weren’t rushed or pledged who found solace in the Y, in literary or musical clubs, but not Dora [DA].
1953		‘William Lee’ Junkie (1966) 57: The pledge was no longer being rushed. It was time for him to pay off.
1966		(con. 1958) R. Farina Been Down So Long (1972) 26: No liquor allowed during rushing.
1983		R. Price Breaks 14: He would have probably gotten rushed by one of the American houses.

(f) (US campus) to confront, esp. groups of students against each other; thus rushing n.

1876		S.F. Daily Eve. Post 2 Oct. 3/6: The entire Sophomore Class at Williams College has been suspended for ‘rushing’ Freshmen [DA].
1888		J. Bryce Amer. Commonwealth III vi cii 454: [footnote] Sophomores and freshmen have a whimiscal habit of meeting one another in dense masses and trying which can push the other aside on the stairs or path. This is called ‘rushing’ [DA].
1900		E.H. Babbitt ‘College Words and Phrases’ in DN II:i 56: rush, v. To engage in a cane contest.
1989		P. Munro Sl. U. 162: rush [...] to confront.

(g) (UK/US black) to attack someone, to beat someone up.

1888		‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Robbery Under Arms (2006) 229: I’ve known cases where a single bushranger was rushed by a couple of determined men.
1906		A.H. Lewis Confessions of a Detective 47: There was [...] a mad desire in my heart to rush upon that lying tyrant of a roundsman, with all my ten talons, and, in the parlance of the police, ‘neck him.’.
1928		C. McKay Home to Harlem 46: He rushed them. The white men shot like rats to cover.
1951		M. Spillane Long Wait (1954) 143: You don’t use your hands against a blade. You don’t kick or punch or rush cold steel.
1985		T.R. Houser Central Sl. 45: rushed An immediate jumped-on [...] ‘We just came around the corner and the dudes rushed my brother.’.
1997		C. Newland Scholar 61: Some brers rushed us.
2003		Dizzee Rascal in Vice Mag. at Hyperdub.com 🌐 I heard I got rushed at Caesars: I’ve never got rushed at a rave, ever.
2018-20		T. Thorne (ed.) ‘Drill Slang Glossary’ at Forensic Linguistic Databank 🌐 Rush - attack.
2020		G. Krauze What They Was 218: Little Man just got rushed [...] one of the brers shanks him in his stomach.

(h) to show intense interest in something or someone.

1900		E.H. Babbitt ‘College Words and Phrases’ in DN II:i 56: rush, v. 3. To show a lower classman marked attention. 4. To show a young lady marked attention.
1935		A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks n.p.: Rushing a solo, faithful to his wife or sweetheart.
1952		in G. Legman Limerick (1953) 53: A maiden who lived in Virginny / Had a cunt that could bark, neigh and whinny. / The horsey set rushed her, / But success finally crushed her / For her tone soon became harsh and tinny.
1995		Francis-Jackson Official Dancehall Dict. 45: Rush [...] 2. to be the centre of attention: u. dem a rush me.

(a) (drugs) of a drug, to take effect, to work on the user.

1978		H. Selby Jr Requiem for a Dream (1987) 158: There was a hint of a flash, but it didnt rush them like they were used to.
1997		N. Barlay Curvy Lovebox 5: The place empties slowly but my E’s rushin’.

(b) of a person, to experience the immediate effects of a drug, esp. heroin or cocaine.

1994		I. Welsh ‘A Smart Cunt’ in Acid House 221: What a fuckin waste, rushing like this here when I could be at a club.
1998		(con. 1986) G. Pelecanos Sweet Forever 26: They did another round [of cocaine]. Karras was rushing hard.
2002		T. Dorsey Triggerfish Twist (2002) 87: ‘How do you feel?’ asked Bernie. Coleman looked slowly around the room. ‘[...] rushing, tripping, zooming, zonked ...’.