fire escape

American  

noun

• fire escapes
  plural

1. an apparatus or structure used to escape from a burning building, as a metal stairway down an outside wall.

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fire escape British  

noun

1. a means of evacuating people from a building in the event of fire, esp a metal staircase outside the building

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fire escapes
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of fire escape

First recorded in 1670–80

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fire escape

One friend would debut a play, naturally, and everyone would come back to my apartment afterward for cocktails and canapés on the fire escape.

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026

It was blamed in part on the building’s highly flammable cladding and lack of alarms, sprinklers and a fire escape.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

Bryant entered the building containing the recording studio and opened a locked fire escape exit door to allow others to slip in without being seen by Mizell.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2026

The staffers trapped on the roof would run down the fire escape, then scale a wall at the back.

From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2026

As soon as we sat on the metal fire escape landing, Maribel slid her backpack off and pulled out a green notebook.

From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez

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