escape
Americanverb (used without object)
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escapes,
present (3rd person singular)
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escaped,
past participle, past
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escaping
present participle
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to slip or get away, as from confinement or restraint; gain or regain liberty.
to escape from jail.
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to slip away from pursuit or peril; avoid capture, punishment, or any threatened evil.
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to issue from a confining enclosure, as a fluid.
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to slip away; fade.
The words escaped from memory.
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Botany. (of an originally cultivated plant) to grow wild.
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(of a rocket, molecule, etc.) to achieve escape velocity.
verb (used with object)
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escapes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
escaped,
past participle, past
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escaping
present participle
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to slip away from or elude (pursuers, captors, etc.).
He escaped the police.
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to succeed in avoiding (any threatened or possible danger or evil).
She escaped capture.
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to elude (one's memory, notice, search, etc.).
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to fail to be noticed or recollected by (a person).
Her reply escapes me.
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(of a sound or utterance) to slip from or be expressed by (a person, one's lips, etc.) inadvertently.
noun
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escapes
plural
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an act or instance of escaping.
- Synonyms:
- flight
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the fact of having escaped.
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a means of escaping.
We used the tunnel as an escape.
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avoidance of reality.
She reads mystery stories as an escape.
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leakage, as of water or gas, from a pipe or storage container.
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Botany. a plant that originated in cultivated stock and is now growing wild.
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Physics, Rocketry. the act of achieving escape velocity.
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(usually initial capital letter) Escape key.
adjective
verb
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to get away or break free from (confinements, captors, etc)
the lion escaped from the zoo
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to manage to avoid (imminent danger, punishment, evil, etc)
to escape death
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(of gases, liquids, etc) to issue gradually, as from a crack or fissure; seep; leak
water was escaping from the dam
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(tr) to elude; be forgotten by
the actual figure escapes me
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(tr) to be articulated inadvertently or involuntarily
a roar escaped his lips
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(intr) (of cultivated plants) to grow wild
noun
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the act of escaping or state of having escaped
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avoidance of injury, harm, etc
a narrow escape
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a means or way of escape
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( as modifier )
an escape route
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a means of distraction or relief, esp from reality or boredom
angling provides an escape for many city dwellers
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a gradual outflow; leakage; seepage
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Also called: escape valve, escape cock. a valve that releases air, steam, etc, above a certain pressure; relief valve or safety valve
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a plant that was originally cultivated but is now growing wild
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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escapernoun
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preescapenoun
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self-escapenoun
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escapableadjective
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escapelessadjective
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unescapableadjective
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unescapedadjective
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escapinglyadverb
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unescapablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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escapesimple
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escapessimple
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have escapedperfect
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has escapedperfect
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am escapingprogressive
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are escapingprogressive
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is escapingprogressive
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have been escapingperfect progressive
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has been escapingperfect progressive
Past
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escapedsimple
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had escapedperfect
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was escapingprogressive
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were escapingprogressive
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had been escapingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of escape
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”; see ex- 1, cap 1
Explanation
To escape is to break free, to get out of a situation you don’t want to be in. It’s also a noun, as in an escape from a dull party that might involve a ladder and an upstairs window. It’s hard to pin down the word escape. An escape can be the act of escaping, like an escape from prison, but an escape can also be a calming retreat, like a vacation that gets you away from the stress of everyday life. As a verb, escape also means, "to fail to experience or know.” If the humor escapes you, you don't find the joke funny.
Vocabulary lists containing escape
Beowulf vocabulary
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"The Experiment" and "Superstition"
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Selection Vocabulary 1, Unit 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Its sunken gardens and swimming pool promised comfort, while a blast door, escape hatches and air filtration protected against nuclear fallout.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Seventeen-year-old Anastasiia Ryvbalchenko has also experienced a narrow escape.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
While Western tourists had begun to come to Shangri-La decades earlier, the domestic tourist boom began after Covid-19-era lockdowns left China’s growing middle class grappling for a sense of escape and meaning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
White Bay Cay spans around 25 acres, while the adjacent island adds 7 more acres to Perry’s secluded escape.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
I had looked at the Hello Girls as an escape, something to briefly interrupt the life I had waiting for me back home.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
The roughly 34,500 defectors to reach the South since 1998 are a fraction of North Korea's 26.6 million people, UN figures show, but the plunging number of escapes has consequences.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
He became an international superstar in 1935 in “Captain Blood,” as a wrongly accused doctor who escapes slavery and takes up piracy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
After that, Anthropic and others began checking their logs and noticed escapes and hacks dating back months.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
As the potato heats up, however, that water turns into vapor and escapes.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
A laugh escapes my lips before I can stop it.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
Skubal escaped the inning by getting Olson to chase an outside fastball and fly out to left field.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
And now the same aesthetic has escaped the bowl.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026
What remained uncertain was how quickly those heavier elements escaped the first galaxies and spread into the wider universe.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026
The two sisters were looked after by a Tameside family until their mother arrived the following year, having escaped via Norway.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
While Paul Jennings escaped notice in this controversy, he achieved real fame for another reason.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
The prosecution’s argument is simpler and meaner, almost reminiscent of Steinbeck: Clancy’s actions were premeditated, her way of escaping a life she didn’t want anymore.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026
"There's no escaping it - everything feels more expensive and it is more expensive."
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
“There was no escaping my heritage,” he thought.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
Normally, the gut barrier allows nutrients to pass into the body while helping prevent harmful bacteria from escaping the intestines.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
"I bet the newspaper wouldn't come to see a regular pony. Having an escaping pony could be a good thing for Mr. Johnson and the petting zoo."
From "Pony Problems: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #3" by Carolyn Keene
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
