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escape Definition

es·cape (e skāp′, i-)

intransitive verb escaped -·caped′, escaping -·cap′·ing

  1. to get free; get away; get out; break loose, as from a prison
  2. to avoid an illness, accident, pain, etc. two were injured, but he escaped
  3. to flow, drain, or leak away gas escaping from a pipe
  4. to slip away; disappear the image escaped from her memory
  5. Bot. to grow wild, as a plant from a condition of cultivation

Etymology: ME escapen < NormFr escaper, var. of eschaper < VL *excappare < L ex-, out of (see ex-) + LL cappa, cloak (i.e., leave one's cloak behind)

transitive verb

  1. to get away from; flee from to escape pursuers
  2. to manage to keep away from; avoid to escape punishment
  3. to come from involuntarily or unintentionally a scream escaped from her lips
  4. to slip away from; be missed, unperceived, or forgotten by his name escapes me

noun

  1. an act or instance or escaping
  2. the state of having escaped
  3. a means or way of escape
  4. an outward flow or leakage
  5. a temporary mental release from reality movies are her escape
  6. Bot. a garden plant growing wild

Etymology: ME escap

adjective

  1. giving temporary mental release from reality
    1. making escape possible an escape hatch
    2. giving a basis for evading or circumventing a claim, responsibility, etc. an escape clause

Related Forms:

escape Synonyms

escape

n.

  1. The act of escaping

    flight, getaway, retreat, disappearance, evasion, avoidance, leave, departure, withdrawal, hegira, elopement, desertion, abdication, decampment, liberation, deliverance, rescue, freedom, release, extrication, breakout, jailbreak, break*, French leave*, close call*, close shave*, slip*, AWOL*. *

    Antonyms imprisonment*, retention*, capture. *

  2. Place of escape

    exit, outlet, way out, loophole, overflow, outflow, leakage, leak, fire escape, waste pipe, sewer, hatch, porthole, alleyway, floodgate, exhaust, draft, escape valve, vent.

  3. Mental release

    distraction, diversion, escapism; see avoidance, entertainment 1, oblivion 1.

escape Synonyms

escape

v.

flee, fly, leave, depart, elude, avoid, evade, dodge, run off, run away, get away, get out, slip away, make one's escape, make off, disappear, vanish, steal off, steal away, get away from, break out, break away, bolt, get free, get clear of, desert, slip out, elope, run out, run out on, leak out, flow out, gush forth, emerge, burst out, avoid danger, go free, go scot-free, decamp, abscond, take flight, take off, free oneself, break loose, gain, liberty, break one's bonds, break jail, get off, find a loophole, wriggle out, worm out of, slip by, get by, lead one a merry chase, duck out*, cut out*, make a getaway*, make a break*, get away with*, cut and run*, show one's heels*, cut loose*, clear out*, make oneself scarce*, play hooky*, go AWOL*, bail out*, save one's bacon*, save one's neck*, scram*, skidoo*, take a powder*, give one the slip*, shake*, shake off*, fly the coop*, take it on the lam*, leg it*, play hide and seek*, take French leave*, skip*, jump*. *

Antonyms return*, come back*, remain.

escape implies a getting out of, a keeping away from, or simply a remaining unaffected by an impending or present danger, evil, confinement, etc. to escape death, criticism, etc.; to avoid is to make a conscious effort to keep clear of something undesirable or harmful to avoid crowds during a flu epidemic; to evade is to escape or avoid by artifice, cunning, adroitness, etc. to evade pursuit, one's duty, etc.; to elude is to escape the grasp of someone or something by artful or slippery dodges or because of a baffling quality the criminal eluded the police, the meaning eluded him

escape Usage Examples

Object

  • clutch: Can Riddick escape the clutches of the mercs long enough to free his ward, Kyra from Crematoria and fulfill his destiny?
  • hustle: Its a great place to escape the inner city hustle and bustle.
  • punishment: The child tries to escape the flies punishment twice, then gets stuck onto the paper child-killer.

Adjective modifier

  • lucky: Anyway, looks like we had a lucky escape from nearly buying a lemon.
  • daring: The ship made a daring escape under cover of darkness, some 100 days later.
  • narrow: In 1641 he had a narrow escape from a treacherous death on the outbreak of the rising.

Adjective complement

  • unharmed: Hunting is the survival of the fittest as the quarry is given the chance to escape unharmed.
  • unpunished: But across the board, Tony Blair will escape unpunished.

Noun used with modifier

  • backslash: In the macro body, the backslash escapes described above are expanded.
  • tilde: Print a summary of tilde escapes, paged through the command specified by the PAGER variable.

Preposition: from

  • hustle: These quiet waters are a haven of peace and tranquility where you can escape from the hustle and bustle of twenty first century demands.

Modifies a noun

  • route: The best place is on an escape route, close to an outside door.
  • sequence: You can always define escape sequences in your functions of course.
  • ladder: The lock gates and an escape ladder are in place.
escape Quotes

O! would the Sons of Men once think their Eyes And Reason giv'n them but to study Flies? See Nature in some partial narrow shape, And let the Author of the Whole escape.

—Pope, Alexander

It is the creative nature of man which has refused to let him lapse back into that unconscious unity with life which characterizes the animal world from which he made his escape.

—Miller, Henry Valentine

The familyöthat dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape.

—Smith, Dodie

No manshould escape ouruniversitieswithout knowing how little he knows.

—Oppenheimer,J(ulius) Robert

No one can escape his destiny.

—Plato

What is hell? Hell is oneself, Hell is alone, the other figures in it Merely projections. There is nothing to escape from And nothing to escape to.One is always alone.

—Eliot,T(homas) S(tearns)

Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality but an escape from personality.

—Eliot,T(homas) S(tearns)

The poor cannot always reach those whom they want to love, and they can hardly ever escape from those whom they no longer love.

—Forster, E(dward) M(organ)

And when the spring comes her hour is upon her again. 'Testhehand of Nature and we women cannot escape it.

—Gibbons, Stella Dorothea

At the age of14 I discovered writing as an escape from†being called a sissy by the neighborhood kids, and Miss Nancy by my father.

—Williams,TennesseeThomas Lanier