escape hatch
Americannoun
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a hatch used for emergency escape, as from a submarine or aircraft.
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a means of avoiding a troublesome situation; a ready or handy way out.
noun
Etymology
Origin of escape hatch
First recorded in 1920–25
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.
His escape hatch came from a chance conversation with a dog owner who was excited to have found a bigger-than-normal lint roller.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
While the mechanics may be complicated, the upshot for savers is clear—anyone worried about declining saving account rates now has an escape hatch.
From Barron's ● Dec. 11, 2025
Red warning lights flash above the door, and inside there is an emergency escape hatch into a tunnel in case something went wrong.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2025
But it instead feels like an easy escape hatch when what “On Swift Horses” promised was a richer psychological landscape about what roils inside hearts accustomed to hiding.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2025
An escape hatch was provided by his brother-in-law Landon Thorne, a Wall Street wunderkind who proposed that they form an investment banking partnership.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
