escape

verb es·cape \ i-ˈskāp , e- , dialectal ik-ˈskāp \

Updated on: 13 Apr 2018

Definition of escape

escaped; escaping

intransitive verb

1 a : to get away (as by flight)

escaped from prison

b : to issue from confinement

gas is escaping

c of a plant : to run wild from cultivation

2 : to avoid a threatening evil

the boat sank but the crew escaped

transitive verb

1 : to get free of : break away from

escape the jungle

escape the solar system

2 : to get or stay out of the way of : avoid

efforts to escape poverty

3 : to fail to be noticed or recallable by

his name escapes me

4 a : to issue from

a smile escaped me

b : to be uttered involuntarily by

a sigh of relief escaped her

—

escaper

noun

See escape defined for English-language learners

See escape defined for kids

Examples of escape in a Sentence

They managed to escape from the burning building.
He needed a vacation to escape the routine of daily life.
She moved to the city to escape the memory of her mother's death.
trying to help people to escape poverty
trying to help people to escape from poverty
He succeeded in escaping punishment for many years.
A few passengers somehow escaped injury.
She barely escaped death when her car slid off the road.
Several passengers escaped without injury.

Recent Examples of escape from the Web

Instead, Arendo struck out the next three batters — two swinging and the leadoff hitter looking — to escape the jam.

— kyle stackpole, Howard County Times, "Looper, Arnedo headline first win for Oakland Mills baseball," 6 Apr. 2018
The schools are located south and west of the intersection where the prisoner is reported to have escaped.

— frank abderholden, Lake County News-Sun, "17-year-old who escaped cops by jumping from vehicle in Vernon Hills causes lockdown, still on the loose," 5 Apr. 2018
Error 5 Luxembourg's red-light district could soon be a bastion for bankers escaping Brexit.

— Bloomberg, "Lack of Housing in Luxembourg Results in Higher Costs," 18 Mar. 2018
The next persona is Shipwrecked Sadie (Christina Day), a British fop in a court suit who has escaped from pirates and has a reverie about gender identity.

— dave sturm, Columbia Flier, "At Laurel's Venus Theatre, a woman's wry perspective across four centuries," 16 Mar. 2018
Catch basins have traps and during warm, dry weather, water in them can evaporate allowing sewer gases to escape. Because the two agencies provided information in different formats, the complaints could not be compiled and mapped together.

— james bruggers, The Courier-Journal, "Something smells. It's Louisville's neighborhoods, and the poorer ones don't get relief," 15 Mar. 2018
Gwala was able to escape and is expected to walk again.

— sydney scott, Essence.com, "The Quick Read: Agent Who Groped Terry Crews Will Not Be Charged," 8 Mar. 2018
Los Angeles’ ties to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s go beyond the 1965 Watts Rebellion, but often escape mainstream narratives.

— liz ohanesian, Los Angeles Magazine, "Tucked Away Behind a Macy’s Bed Display, a Lesson in Civil Rights History," 6 Mar. 2018
Mustangs left-hander Ryan Lee entered the game in the fifth inning, and, with runners on second and third and no one out, escaped the jam unscathed.

— kyle stackpole, Howard County Times, "Marriotts Ridge baseball holds on against Glenelg in season opener," 27 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'escape.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

If you were being held captive by someone gripping the coat or cloak you were wearing, you might be able to get away by slipping out of it. This is the idea on which the word escape is based. Escape is made up of the Latin prefix ex-, which means “out of,” and the Latin word cappa, which means “head covering” or “cloak.”

Origin and Etymology of escape

Middle English, from Anglo-French escaper, eschaper, from Vulgar Latin *excappare, from Latin ex- + Late Latin cappa head covering, cloak

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

See Words from the same year

escape Synonyms

Phrases

fight shy of, keep clear of, stay clear of, steer clear of;

Synonym Discussion of escape

escape, avoid, evade, elude, shun, eschew mean to get away or keep away from something. escape stresses the fact of getting away or being passed by not necessarily through effort or by conscious intent.

- nothing escapes her sharp eyes

avoid stresses forethought and caution in keeping clear of danger or difficulty.

- try to avoid past errors

evade implies adroitness, ingenuity, or lack of scruple in escaping or avoiding.

- evaded the question by changing the subject

elude implies a slippery or baffling quality in the person or thing that escapes.

- what she sees in him eludes me

shun often implies an avoiding as a matter of habitual practice or policy and may imply repugnance or abhorrence.

- you have shunned your responsibilities

eschew implies an avoiding or abstaining from as unwise or distasteful.

- a playwright who eschews melodrama

escape

noun

Definition of escape

1 : an act or instance of escaping: such as

a : flight from confinement

b : evasion of something undesirable

c : leakage or outflow especially of a fluid

d : distraction or relief from routine or reality

2 : a means of escape

3 : a cultivated plant run wild

4 or less commonly Escape : escape key

See escape defined for English-language learners

Examples of escape in a Sentence

The prisoners attempted a daring escape.
He celebrated his escape from his boring job with a long vacation.
She had a lucky escape when she wasn't injured in the accident.
She managed to avoid serious injury, but it was a narrow escape.
The door was locked; there was no escape.
Gardening offered an escape from her busy life.
an accidental escape of poisonous gases
trying to prevent further escape of liquid

Recent Examples of escape from the Web

Since her escape, Knight has tried to live life to the fullest.

— elaine aradillas, PEOPLE.com, "Cleveland Kidnapping Survivor Michelle Knight Is Married Five Years After Escape From Captivity," 10 Apr. 2018
His escape soon followed, as outfielder Hunter Pence flied out to strand two runners.

— andy mccullough, latimes.com, "Andrew McCutchen hits a walk-off home run to lift Giants over Dodgers 7-5 in 14 innings," 8 Apr. 2018
Making their escape Cheol Kwang and Kwon look like brothers, with their matching bowl haircuts, glasses and puffy black jackets that fill out their slight frames.

— NBC News, "They escaped Kim Jong Un. Now these young North Korean defectors just want to grow up.," 30 Mar. 2018
Not too long after her escape, Truth learned that her son Peter had been illegally sold into slavery in Alabama.

— shammara lawrence, Teen Vogue, "Women's History Month: 3 Women Who Changed America," 30 Mar. 2018
After his harrowing escape, Schrier started demanding answers from the FBI, which at the time of his kidnapping was led by Mueller.

— catherine herridge, pamela k. browne, Fox News, "American who escaped Al Qaeda captivity says FBI, under Mueller and Comey, betrayed him," 27 Mar. 2018
His escape was narrow enough to embolden opponents to make a second attempt.

— john quigley, Bloomberg.com, "Peru’s New Leader Has a Mandate to Fix a Poisoned Political Climate," 23 Mar. 2018
When her first attempt to escape fails, San San goes into hiding and plans her own escape.

— fan wu, San Francisco Chronicle, "‘Bury What We Cannot Take,’ by Kirstin Chen," 21 Mar. 2018
While Gigi is wishing for some sisterly comfort in the days since her breakup, Zayn has turned to tattoos as his escape from his feels.

— noelle devoe, Seventeen, "Gigi Hadid Misses Her Sister Bella Now More Than Ever After Her Breakup With Zayn," 20 Mar. 2018

First Known Use of escape

14th century

escape Synonyms

Synonyms

break, breakout, flight, getaway, lam, rout, slip;

Near Antonyms

captivity, confinement, immurement, imprisonment, incarceration, internment;

custody, detention, hold, holding, retention;

endangerment, hazard, imperilment, jeopardy, peril, risk, trouble;

Related Words

jailbreak;

deliverance, liberation, redemption, release, rescue, salvation;

close call, close shave, near miss;

escape

adjective

Definition of escape

1 : providing a means of escape

escape literature

2 : providing a means of evading a regulation, claim, or commitment

an escape clause in a contract

Recent Examples of escape from the Web

During his final three matches at the sectional, Skokna consistently employed a strategy of letting his opponent get escape points without trying to keep him down.

— patrick kelly, chicagotribune.com, "Extra work helps pair of Hinsdale Central wrestlers reach state," 16 Feb. 2018
The Saturn 5, which flew 13 times, had an Earth-escape payload capacity of more than 100,000 pounds, about three times the capability of the Falcon Heavy.

— william harwood, CBS News, "SpaceX prepares for dramatic Falcon Heavy launch," 4 Feb. 2018
There are already escape room businesses in Aurora, Naperville, McHenry, St. Charles, Schaumburg, Wheaton, quite a few other suburbs and in Chicago.

— mike danahey, Elgin Courier-News, "Escape room opens in downtown Elgin," 25 July 2017

First Known Use of escape

1817

ESCAPE Defined for English Language Learners

escape

verb

Definition of escape for English Language Learners

: to get away from a place (such as a prison) where you are being held or kept
: to get away from a dangerous place or situation
: to get away from something that is difficult or unpleasant

escape

noun

Definition of escape for English Language Learners

: an act of escaping from a place, situation, etc.
: a way of escaping from a place, situation, etc.
: an occurrence in which an amount of liquid or gas passes out through a hole or crack in a container

ESCAPE Defined for Kids

escape

verb es·cape \ i-ˈskāp \

Definition of escape for Students

escaped; escaping

1 : to get away : get free or clear

Everyone escaped from the burning building.

2 : to keep free of : avoid

She managed to escape injury.

3 : to fail to be noticed or remembered by

The name escapes me.

4 : to leak out

Gas is escaping from the tank.

History for escape

Picture a person who is held by a cape or cloak. The person may be able to slip out of the garment and so escape from the captor. The word escape is based on such a picture. The word escape came from an Old French verb escaper or eschaper. This word in turn came ultimately from the Latin words ex, “out of,” and cappa, “head covering, cloak.”

escape

noun

Definition of escape for Students

1 : the act of getting away

a narrow escape

2 : a way of getting away

… there was no escape except up the cliff.
—Jack London, The Call of the Wild

Medical Dictionary

escape

verb es·cape \ is-ˈkāp \

medical Definition of escape

escaped; escaping

intransitive verb

: to avoid or find relief from something by means of an escape

transitive verb

: to avoid or find relief from (something) by means of an escape

he was unable to escape reality

escape

noun

medical Definition of escape

: an act or instance of escaping: as

a : evasion of something undesirable

find no method of escape from pain and suffering

b : distraction or relief from routine or reality; especially : mental distraction or relief by flight into idealizing fantasy or fiction that serves to glorify the self

escape

adjective

medical Definition of escape

: providing a means of escape

escape literature

Law Dictionary

escape

intransitive verb es·cape

legal Definition of escape

escaped; escaping

: to depart from lawful custody with the intent of avoiding confinement or the administration of justice

escape

noun

legal Definition of escape

1 : an act or instance of escaping

2 : the criminal offense of escaping

Learn More about escape

See words that rhyme with escape Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for escape Spanish Central: Translation of escape Nglish: Translation of escape for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of escape for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up escape? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

escape

Definition of escape

escaper

Examples of escape in a Sentence

Recent Examples of escape from the Web

Did You Know?

Origin and Etymology of escape

escape Synonyms

Synonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

Phrases

Synonym Discussion of escape

escape

Definition of escape

Examples of escape in a Sentence

Recent Examples of escape from the Web

First Known Use of escape

escape Synonyms

Synonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

escape

Definition of escape

Recent Examples of escape from the Web

First Known Use of escape

ESCAPE Defined for English Language Learners

escape

Definition of escape for English Language Learners

escape

Definition of escape for English Language Learners

ESCAPE Defined for Kids

escape

Definition of escape for Students

History for escape

escape

Definition of escape for Students

Medical Dictionary

escape

medical Definition of escape

escape

medical Definition of escape

escape

medical Definition of escape

Law Dictionary

escape

legal Definition of escape

escape

legal Definition of escape

Learn More about escape

Seen and Heard

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games

Going Greek: 7 Words from the Greek Alphabet

'Preventive' or 'Preventative'?

Odd Habits and Quirks Quiz

Trending: Trump: Den of Thieves and 'Lowlifes'

2017 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes