hurry

Etymology

From Middle English horien (“to rush, impel”), probably a variation of hurren (“to vibrate rapidly, buzz”), from Proto-Germanic *hurzaną (“to rush”) (compare Middle High German hurren (“to hasten”), Norwegian hurre (“to whirl around”)), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”) (compare Latin currō (“I run”), Tocharian A kursär/Tocharian B kwarsär (“league; course”)). Related to hurr, horse, rush. Alternative etymology derives hurry as a variant of harry, which see.

noun

1. Rushed action.
   Why are you in such a big hurry?
   At length, one night, when the company by ſome accident broke up much ſooner than ordinary, ſo that the candles were not half burnt out, ſhe was not able to reſiſt the temptation, but reſolved to have them ſome way or other. Accordingly, as ſoon as the hurry was over, and the ſervants, as ſhe thought, all gone to ſleep, ſhe ſtole out of her bed, and went down ſtairs, naked to her ſhift as ſhe was, with a deſign to ſteal them […] 1762, Charles Johnstone, The Reverie; or, A Flight to the Paradise of Fools, volume 2, Dublin: Printed by Dillon Chamberlaine, →OCLC, page 202
2. Urgency.
   There is no hurry on that paperwork.
3. (American football) an incidence of a defensive player forcing the quarterback to act faster than the quarterback was prepared to, resulting in a failed offensive play.
   At Alabama, Jedrick Wills Jr. anchored the right side of the offensive line for two years, allowing only one sack and three-and-a-half quarterback hurries on 714 snaps last season. April 24 2020, Ken Belson, Ben Shpigel, “Full Round 1 2020 N.F.L. Picks and Analysis”, in New York Time
4. (music) A tremolando passage for violins, etc., accompanying an exciting situation.

verb

1. (intransitive) To do things quickly.
   He's hurrying because he's late.
   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. He had him gripped firmly by the arm, since he felt it was not safe to let him loose, and he had no immediate idea what to do with him. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess
2. (intransitive) Often with up, to speed up the rate of doing something.
   If you don't hurry (up) you won't finish on time.
3. (transitive) To cause to be done quickly.
4. (transitive) To hasten; to impel to greater speed; to urge on.
5. (transitive) To impel to precipitate or thoughtless action; to urge to confused or irregular activity.
6. (mining) To put: to convey coal in the mine, e.g. from the working to the tramway.
   Elizabeth Day, aged seventeen […] "I have been nearly nine years in the pit. I trapped for two years when I first went, and have hurried ever since. I have hurried for my father until a year ago. I have to help to riddle and fill, […] 1842, The Condition and Treatment of the Children Employed in the Mines, page 45