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Synonyms

escapee

American  
[ih-skey-pee, es-key-] / ɪ skeɪˈpi, ˌɛs keɪ- /

noun

  1. a person who escapes, especially from a prison or other place of detention.

escapee British  
/ ɪˌskeɪˈpiː /

noun

  1. a person who has escaped, esp an escaped prisoner

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of escapee

First recorded in 1860–65; escape + -ee

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.

At too much risk and outside of the licensed area, the escapee was carefully recaptured and returned to Little Sea.

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

The entire mountain was shut down to search for the escapee, with hundreds of state officers scouring its steep rock faces, which were at times layered with thick snow.

From BBC • Feb. 25, 2026

Astronomers suspect an unusual near-Earth rocky object is not a typical escapee from the Solar System’s asteroid belt, but is instead a chunk of the Moon blasted into space eons ago by a spectacular impact.

From Science Magazine • Apr. 19, 2024

Earlier this month, the sheriff’s office said fellow escapee Marc Kerry Anderson was captured in Atlanta.

From Washington Times • Nov. 13, 2023

The other escapee is Kim Hye Sook, who also fled Camp 18.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden

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.