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

Etymology

Origin of fire escape

First recorded in 1670–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fire escape

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

Other patients were helped out through corridors with the aid of fire escape hoods, a breathing apparatus used by fire brigades in smoke-filled environments.

From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2025

Some of the properties were never occupied due to safety issues such as unusual layouts or fire escape problems.

From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2025

Climbing the fire escape to the roof, they found no stranger and no clue of where he might’ve gone.

From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles