escape

[ih-skeyp]

verb (used without object)

escaped, escaping 

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)

escaped, escaping 

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),  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. (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 called: escape valve.  escape 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

Other Word Forms

• escaper noun
• escapable adjective
• escapeless adjective
• escapingly adverb
• preescape noun
• self-escape noun
• unescapable adjective
• unescapably adverb
• unescaped 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

• 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. See also avoid.

Example Sentences

In the latter, another youngster emerges from a chaotic throng of people, standing apart from the hubbub while carrying a stack of books, suggesting that education offered opportunities to escape these harried circumstances.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The quarterbacks’ running ability could present the biggest challenge for the opposing defenses Saturday given they are both extremely elusive and able to escape pressure.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Yosef-Chaim Ohana, 25, had been at the festival with a friend, who said they had remained to help people escape the gunfire before running themselves.

Read more on BBC

He ran to escape, but also to abuse his competitors, forcing them to sprint faster than their abilities allowed.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But Fisher says he also wanted to escape the frenzy of athletes around town toasting their successes—or drowning their sorrows.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• avoid 
• depart 
• disappear 
• dodge 
• elude 
• emerge 
• evade 
• flee 
• fly 
• leave 
• run 
• slip 
• slip away www.thesaurus.com
• vanish