escape

(noun, verb)

noun

1. the act of escaping physically

- he made his escape from the mental hospital

- the canary escaped from its cage

Similar word(s): flight

Definition categories: act

2. an inclination to retreat from unpleasant realities through diversion or fantasy

- romantic novels were her escape from the stress of daily life

Similar word(s): escapism

Definition categories: act, diversion, recreation

3. nonperformance of something distasteful (as by deceit or trickery) that you are supposed to do

- that escape from the consequences is possible but unattractive

Similar word(s): dodging, evasion

Definition categories: act, carelessness, neglect, negligence, nonperformance

4. an avoidance of danger or difficulty

- that was a narrow escape

Definition categories: act, avoidance, dodging, shunning

5. a means or way of escaping

- hard work was his escape from worry

- they installed a second hatch as an escape

- their escape route

Definition categories: act, agency, means, way

6. a plant originally cultivated but now growing wild

Definition categories: plant, flora

7. the discharge of a fluid from some container

- they tried to stop the escape of gas from the damaged pipe

Similar word(s): leak, leakage, outflow

Definition categories: event, discharge, outpouring, run

8. a valve in a container in which pressure can build up (as a steam boiler); it opens automatically when the pressure reaches a dangerous level

Definition categories: man–made, regulator, valve

Sentences with escape as a noun:

- The prisoners made their escape by digging a tunnel.

- You forgot to insert an escape in the datastream.

verb

1. run away from confinement

- The convicted murderer escaped from a high security prison

Definition categories: motion, flee, fly

2. fail to experience

Similar word(s): miss

Definition categories: communication, avoid

3. escape potentially unpleasant consequences; get away with a forbidden action

Definition categories: communication, avoid

4. be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by

Similar word(s): elude

Definition categories: stative, amaze, baffle, beat, bewilder, dumbfound, flummox, get, gravel, mystify, nonplus, perplex, pose, puzzle, stick, stupefy, vex

5. remove oneself from a familiar environment, usually for pleasure or diversion

- We escaped to our summer house for a few days

Definition categories: social, escape

6. flee; take to one's heels; cut and run

- The burglars escaped before the police showed up

Similar word(s): bunk, lam, run, scarper, scat

Definition categories: motion, leave

7. issue or leak, as from a small opening

- Gas escaped into the bedroom

Definition categories: change, egress, emerge, issue

Sentences with escape as a verb:

- The prisoners escaped by jumping over a wall.

- He only got a fine and so escaped going to jail.

- The children climbed out of the window to escape the fire.

- Luckily, I escaped with only a fine.

- The name of the hotel escapes me at present.

- When using the "bash" shell, you can escape the ampersand character with a backslash.

- Brion escaped the double quote character on Windows by adding a second double quote within the literal.