I. ə̇ˈskāp, eˈ- verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English escapen, ascapen, from Old North French escaper, ascaper, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin excappare, from Latin ex- + Late Latin cappa head covering, cloak — more at cap
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to get away (as by flight or conscious effort) : break away, get free, or get clear
the prisoner escaped from prison
escape from boredom by traveling extensively
eager to escape from the army and go back to his home town — Dixon Wecter
the peculiar merit of this book is that it escapes from the conventional attitudes towards the conquest of Mexico — Times Literary Supplement
b. : to issue from confinement or an enclosure especially by way of a break (as in a waterpipe)
gas escaping from a main
clamp lips firmly so that no air can escape — Raymond Zauber
as the fluid runs through the tile lines, it gradually escapes through the open joints — J.R.Dalzell
her hat was jammed onto the back of her head, her hair escaping beneath the crumpled brim — William Faulkner
the eggs develop in this pouch and the young escape when they hatch — G.E. & Nettie MacGinitie
c. of a plant : to run wild from a condition of cultivation or from a cultivated area
2. : to avoid or elude an evil that threatens : evade imminent pain or misfortune
the infection was so widespread that few escaped
the hunters were so thick any game that escaped was lucky
the crew escaped, as usual, but the boat was shattered to pieces — Norman Douglas
he escaped momentarily from the heavy humors which had occupied his mind — T.B.Costain
specifically of an amateur wrestler : to maneuver from a defensive to a neutral position
transitive verb
1. : to get free of : break away from
escaped the jungle to carry forward the struggle — James Atlas
to escape the earth's gravitational pull — Edwina Deans et al
2.
a. : to get or be out of the way of (something one wishes to avoid) : miss or succeed in averting (pain or misfortune) : avoid , elude , evade
escape poverty and unhappiness
the Greeks escaped the evils of priestly government — W.R.Inge
firstborn babies characteristically escape the disease — E.W.Page
set sail hastily to escape possible punishment for his share in the enterprise — American Guide Series: Maine
our family seems to have escaped television addiction — John McNulty
the name of the man escapes me entirely
b. : to be unnoticed by or not obvious, apparent, or recallable to
the more valuable articles escaped the eyes of the thieves
the profounder subtleties of harmony and rhythm more often than not escape me — Clive Bell
a veracity that often escapes the authors of historical fiction — American Guide Series: Oregon
the myth is a transcendent idea that escapes the mental grasp entirely — H.M.Parshley
3.
a. : to issue from
a smile may escape us in reading Honorius — H.O.Taylor
b. : to be uttered by (a person) involuntarily
a muffled moan escaped the boy — F.V.W.Mason
Synonyms:
avoid , evade , elude , eschew , shun : escape refers to a getting away from something viewed as imminently or likely to be dangerous, threatening, or otherwise to be feared or disliked
escaped serious injury in the accident
adroit legal maneuvering by his attorney enabled him to escape a prison term
the fox escaped detection by the hounds
written in secret to escape ridicule — Ellen Glasgow
avoid may be a near synonym of escape but stresses forethought and caution; it may indicate a keeping well clear of rather than a getting away when exposed to danger
Wang Lung avoided them lest some recognize him — Pearl Buck
by pooling our difficulties, we may at least avoid the failures which come from conceiving the problems of government to be simpler than they are — Felix Frankfurter
life is full of perils, but the wise man ignores those that are inevitable, and acts prudently but without emotion as regards those that can be avoided — Bertrand Russell
evade suggests cleverness, adroitness, artifice, or occasionally subterfuge in avoiding, escaping, or dodging
the king was so far away that his rules might be in large degree evaded if not defied — C.L.Jones
the experience of life shows that people are constantly doing things which must lead to disaster, and yet by some chance manage to evade the result of their folly — W.S.Maugham
elude applies to escaping or evading by baffling, shifty, sly, strategic, or abstruse procedure or character
so some biologists, peering into their microscopes, observe remarkable events which somehow elude their colleagues — Martin Gardner
the ruse to which Captain Lyon had resorted to elude the writ by transporting his prisoner to Illinois — Winston Churchill
eschew may indicate an avoiding or abstaining from as unwise or distasteful
he says what he has to say in excellent prose, eschewing all highflown and arty dithyrambs — New York Herald Tribune Book Review
eschewing melodramatic shortcuts, in spite of the clamor from Rome, he broke the enemy by the only methods possible — starvation, attrition, and a slow, deadly scientific envelopment — John Buchan
his fundamental respect for human personality makes him instinctively eschew the method of authority — M.R.Cohen
shun indicates active or pronounced avoidance, usually with abhorrence, aversion, or contemning as wrong or unwise
a desolate wilderness of maquis, marsh, and coastal swamp, infested with malaria, and shunned by people — George Kish
to shun for his health the pleasures of the table — A.T.Quiller-Couch
Synonyms:
fly , flee , decamp , abscond : escape is the most general in meaning and refers to getting out of confinement, restraint, or captivity or, in the verb's broadest application, out of the clutches or grip of or involvement in anything considered dangerous or unpleasant
escaped from jail
the first action of the war, in which the British ship … escaped by superior speed after a sharp fight — Edward Breck
escape from his grief and loneliness — Allen Johnson
escape embarrassment
fly , used in the sense of escape only in the present tense, adds to it the idea of haste, as of one in fear
fly, father, fly! for all your friends are fled — Shakespeare
so absolutely flooded by the Hawkesbury and its tributaries, that the farmers are forced to fly for their lives — Anthony Trollope
flee implies haste and abruptness of escape, often suggesting not only fear but a certain consequent disorder in the departure
make a boy believe that real work is a thing to flee from — C.E.Montague
founded by men who were fleeing from something very like this tyranny — Hugh Gaitskell
the Irish who fled in the famine years — Liam Brophy
everyone fled in summer to escape the swarms of mosquitoes — American Guide Series: North Carolina
decamp does not usually suggest escape as much as mere, although total, removal from one place to another or complete purposeful departure, applying usually only with a somewhat humorous connotation to the escape of one in confinement or one avoiding confinement or restraint
other tradesmen came to town, took orders, received advances of goods or money, and then decamped — C.L.Jones
the expectation of his decamping as fast as he could from such disgraceful companions — Jane Austen
might play them false and decamp with the entire £100,000 — F.W.Crofts
abscond puts emphasis upon the idea of secrecy, especially criminal secrecy, in an escape, withdrawal, or departure
a promoter with a salted silver mine sold claims to hundreds, at from $50 to $1000 a claim, and absconded with the proceeds — American Guide Series: Texas
he absconded from college with his clothes and took refuge in a lonely farmhouse — Van Wyck Brooks
abscond with the family silver
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English escap, escape, from escapen, v.
1. : the act of escaping or the fact of having escaped: as
a. : evasion of or deliverance from what confines, limits, or holds
an escape from a mental hospital
escape from the earth's gravitational pull
how to make escape from his tight grasp
specifically : an unlawful departure of a prisoner from the limits of his custody especially when without prison breach — see negligent escape , voluntary escape ; compare constructive escape
b. : evasion of or deliverance from what injures, threatens, torments, bores, or is otherwise undesirable
find no method of escape from pain and suffering
a gradual escape … from the hideous experiences and whirling ideas of his youth — Times Literary Supplement
the escape from this legal confusion — H.O.Taylor
these islands have symbolized escape from a world that is too much with us — V.G.Heiser
comedy is an escape not from truth but from despair — Christopher Fry
c. : leakage or outflow especially of steam or a liquid
trying to stop an escape of gas from a broken conduit
d. : distraction or relief from the routine or a burdensome aspect of everyday existence, usually from its irksome responsibilities or its harsher realities
a miserable life that provided no means of escape but alcohol
can't think of anything more genuinely pleasurable these days than the pure escape offered you by a trip in a luxury liner — Richard Joseph
especially : such mental distraction or relief achieved by flight into idealizing fantasy or fiction that glorifies the self
2.
a. archaic : blunder , mistake
b. obsolete : transgression
3. obsolete : outburst
4.
a. : a means of escape
his escape was first constant reading and then, when that did not satisfy, daydreaming
his moments of intense contemplative vision are not moments of autointoxication or escape — Douglas Bush
when he lost all his money there was no escape left and he finally went to work
b. : an outlet or gate through which water may be released from a canal or hydraulic structure
c.
[by shortening]
: fire escape ; specifically : a wheeled extension ladder used to evacuate a burning building
d. : a maneuver in amateur wrestling that permits a contestant to gain a neutral position from a position of disadvantage
5. : a commonly cultivated plant that has run wild or has sprung up from self-sown seeds of a cultivated individual
6. : the action of getting out of a gravitational field
escape by rocket
III. adjective
Etymology: escape (II)
1. : of or relating to escape or to an escape
asked to explain his escape methods after he got out of the concentration camp
his work, for all its fantasy and superreality, was never an escape world: the threat of war, the dark emanations of the unconscious, the grotesque and the erotic, suffering and death, all find a place in his microcosm — Herbert Read
2. : providing a means or opportunity of evading a regulation, claim, agreement, or commitment
an escape clause
the contract set the price of steel at a low figure but contained an escape provision for raising the price $2 a ton if the market went up generally
specifically : providing an opportunity to a new employee in a union shop or to union members following the negotiation of a new union contract for quitting the union without penalty
a union contract with a 30-day escape period
forced the union to include an escape clause in the contract that was finally settled upon
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: French, from Middle French escappe, from Latin scapus shaft of a column, stalk — more at shaft
: apophyge