escape

[ ih-skeyp ]

verb (used without object)

, es·caped, es·cap·ing.

1. to slip or get away, as from confinement or restraint; gain or regain liberty:

   to escape from jail.

   Synonyms: decamp, abscond, flee

2. to slip away from pursuit or peril; avoid capture, punishment, or any threatened evil.
3. to issue from a confining enclosure, as a fluid.
4. to slip away; fade:

   The words escaped from memory.

5. Botany. (of an originally cultivated plant) to grow wild.
6. (of a rocket, molecule, etc.) to achieve escape velocity.

verb (used with object)

, es·caped, es·cap·ing.

1. to slip away from or elude (pursuers, captors, etc.):

   He escaped the police.

   Synonyms: avoid, flee, dodge

2. to succeed in avoiding (any threatened or possible danger or evil):

   She escaped capture.

3. to elude (one's memory, notice, search, etc.).
4. to fail to be noticed or recollected by (a person):

   Her reply escapes me.

5. (of a sound or utterance) to slip from or be expressed by (a person, one's lips, etc.) inadvertently.

noun

1. an act or instance of escaping.

   Synonyms: flight

2. the fact of having escaped.
3. a means of escaping:

   We used the tunnel as an escape.

4. avoidance of reality:

   She reads mystery stories as an escape.

5. leakage, as of water or gas, from a pipe or storage container.
6. Botany. a plant that originated in cultivated stock and is now growing wild.
7. Physics, Rocketry. the act of achieving escape velocity.
8. (usually initial capital letter) Computers. Escape key.

adjective

1. for or providing an escape:

   an escape route.

escape

/ ɪˈskeɪp /

verb

1. to get away or break free from (confinements, captors, etc)

   the lion escaped from the zoo

2. to manage to avoid (imminent danger, punishment, evil, etc)

   to escape death

3. intrusually foll byfrom (of gases, liquids, etc) to issue gradually, as from a crack or fissure; seep; leak

   water was escaping from the dam

4. tr to elude; be forgotten by

   the actual figure escapes me

5. tr to be articulated inadvertently or involuntarily

   a roar escaped his lips

6. intr (of cultivated plants) to grow wild

noun

1. the act of escaping or state of having escaped
2. avoidance of injury, harm, etc

   a narrow escape

3. 1. a means or way of escape
   2. ( as modifier )

      an escape route

4. a means of distraction or relief, esp from reality or boredom

   angling provides an escape for many city dwellers

5. a gradual outflow; leakage; seepage
6. Also calledescape valveescape cock a valve that releases air, steam, etc, above a certain pressure; relief valve or safety valve
7. a plant that was originally cultivated but is now growing wild

Derived Forms

• esˈcaper, noun
• esˈcapable, adjective

Other Words From

• es·capa·ble adjective
• es·capeless adjective
• es·caper noun
• es·caping·ly adverb
• prees·cape noun verb (used without object) preescaped preescaping
• self-es·cape noun
• unes·capa·ble adjective
• unes·capa·bly adverb
• unes·caped adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of escape¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English escapen, ascapen, from Old North French escaper, from French échapper or directly from unattested Vulgar Latin excappāre, verbal derivative (with ex- “out of, from”) of Late Latin cappa “hooded cloak”; ex- ¹, cap ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of escape¹

C14: from Old Northern French escaper, from Vulgar Latin excappāre (unattested) to escape (literally: to remove one's cloak, hence free oneself), from ex- ¹+ Late Latin cappa cloak

Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the idiom beginning with escape , also see narrow escape .

Synonym Study

Escape, elude, evade mean to keep free of something. To escape is to succeed in keeping away from danger, pursuit, observation, etc.: to escape punishment. To elude implies baffling pursuers or slipping through an apparently tight net: The fox eluded the hounds. To evade is to turn aside from or go out of reach of a person or thing: to evade the police. avoid.

Example Sentences

Yost tried to escape to the house patio, but was shot in the head.

From Los Angeles Times

Travelers can choose from a "1-Year Escape from Reality," a "2-Year Mid-Term Selection," a "3-Year Everywhere but Home" and a "4-Year Skip Forward," the release said.

From Salon

To survive, the miners and undocumented migrants go beneath the surface to escape poverty and dig up gold to sell it on the black market.

From BBC

Ultimately, much of the material in the book, including Hughes’ cinematic escape from prison and multiple grueling hunger strikes, was cut so that the Price sisters’ journey of radicalization and regret would take center stage.

From Los Angeles Times

I left the country I came from to escape from this kind of government.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• avoid
• depart
• disappear
• dodge
• elude
• emerge
• evade
• flee
• fly
• leave
• run
• slip
• slip away
• vanish