Meaning of escape in English
Table of contents
Pronunciation
/əˈskeɪp/US accent
UK accent
to browse different examples of pronunciation.Verb
escapeEtymology
Middle English: from Old French eschaper, based on medieval Latin ex-‘out’ + cappa‘cloak’. Compare with escapadeDefinitions
1. run away from confinementExamples
- « The convicted murderer escaped from a high security prison »
Derived terms
- 2. fail to experience
Examples
- « Fortunately, I missed the hurricane »
Derived terms
- 3. escape potentially unpleasant consequences
Examples
- « get away with a forbidden action »
- « She gets away with murder! »
- « I couldn't get out from under these responsibilities »
Derived terms
- 4. be incomprehensible to
Examples
- « escape understanding by »
- « What you are seeing in him eludes me »
- 5. issue or leak, as from a small opening
Examples
- « Gas escaped into the bedroom »
Derived terms
- 6. remove oneself from a familiar environment, usually for pleasure or diversion
Examples
- « We escaped to our summer house for a few days »
- « The president of the company never manages to get away during the summer »
Derived terms
- 7. flee
Examples
- « take to one's heels »
- « cut and run »
- « If you see this man, run! »
- « The burglars escaped before the police showed up »
Derived terms
Noun
escapeDefinitions
1. the act of escaping physicallyExamples
- « he made his escape from the mental hospital »
- « the canary escaped from its cage »
- « his flight was an indication of his guilt »
Derived terms
- 2. an inclination to retreat from unpleasant realities through diversion or fantasy
Examples
- « romantic novels were her escape from the stress of daily life »
- « his alcohol problem was a form of escapism »
- 3. the unwanted discharge of a fluid from some container
Examples
- « they tried to stop the escape of gas from the damaged pipe »
- « he had to clean up the leak »
Derived terms
- 4. a valve in a container in which pressure can build up (as a steam boiler)
Examples
- « it opens automatically when the pressure reaches a dangerous level »
- 5. nonperformance of something distasteful (as by deceit or trickery) that you are supposed to do
Examples
- « his evasion of his clear duty was reprehensible »
- « that escape from the consequences is possible but unattractive »
Derived terms
- 6. an avoidance of danger or difficulty
Examples
- « that was a narrow escape »
Derived terms
- 7. a means or way of escaping
Examples
- « hard work was his escape from worry »
- « they installed a second hatch as an escape »
- « their escape route »
Derived terms
- 8. a plant originally cultivated but now growing wild
Famous quotes
- « The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. » Marcus Aurelius
- « Every man builds his world in his own image. He has the power to choose, but no power to escape the necessity of choice. » Ayn Rand
- « Of course, I would be depressed sometimes, and my Mom would be worried about me because I would just sleep to escape. Cause I was so scared of being a musician or artist, or whatever you want to call it. » Chantal Kreviazuk
- « To become truly immortal, a work of art must escape all human limits: logic and common sense will only interfere. But once these barriers are broken, it will enter the realms of childhood visions and dreams. » Giorgio de Chirico
- « The success or failure of a life, as far as posterity goes, seems to lie in the more or less luck of seizing the right moment of escape. » Alice James