escape room

noun

plural escape rooms

: a game in which participants confined to a room or other enclosed setting (such as a prison cell) are given a set amount of time to find a way to escape (as by discovering hidden clues and solving a series of riddles or puzzles)

Escape rooms are a game where a group of friends or co-workers get locked into a space to play some puzzles, so they can all win the reward of leaving the room slightly early.

—Nick Douglas

One of the most interesting fusions of digital culture with an older form—in this case, theater—is the escape room, which locks people behind a closed door and asks them to find a way out.

—Chris Suellentrop

also : a place or business where this game is played

This is The Lock Boxx, a new mobile escape room based out of San Luis Obispo County. Customers are "locked" inside the trailer until they can solve the appropriate puzzles and break free.

—Jarod Urrutia

Examples of escape room in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Along this stretch of Koreatown, karaoke bars, podiatrists, escape rooms, and coworking spaces stack atop one another. — Skyli Alvarez, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Nov. 2026

Expenses included trips to an escape room and a cigar lounge. — Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2026

A little under $700,000 was improperly reimbursed because those dollars went towards visits to an escape room, restaurants, bars, a strip club and a gym, according to investigators. — Lia Russell, Sacbee.com, 10 Oct. 2026

The reimbursements included expenses for premium airfares, Uber Black and Lyft Black upgrades, trips to gyms, escape rooms, cigar lounges, tiki bars, and private residences with no documentation of a state business purpose. — Carlos E. Castañeda, CBS News, 16 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

2012, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for escape room

• anteroom
• assume
• backroom
• ballroom
• barroom
• bathroom
• bedroom
• boardroom
• bridegroom
• classroom
• cloakroom
• consume

Kids Definition

escape room

noun

: a game in which players confined to a room attempt to escape by discovering hidden clues and solving puzzles or riddles