escape
verb (used without object)
to slip or get away, as from confinement or restraint; gain or regain liberty.
had escaped
-
past perfectof escape.past perfect
Used to express a completed action that took place before another specific past action occurred.
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.
In July, OpenAI revealed that one of its unreleased models had escaped its testing sandbox and hacked the AI company Hugging Face.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Just last week, ChatGPT-maker OpenAI announced that bots it was developing had escaped what was supposed to be a controlled offline environment to hack a competitor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
"It was unreal," he said, adding that while ponies grazing on the mountain had escaped, he feared for a neighbour's pigs as flames swept through surrounding land.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
The region's Guigang Zoo asked the public for help on Wednesday to find at least 100 animals that had escaped after their enclosures were damaged, including alpacas, miniature pigs, and zebras.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
Her hair was pulled up into a bun, though a long curl had escaped, and she wore jeans and a fitted T-shirt with a math competition logo.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
