es|cape

es|cape «ehs KAYP», verb, -caped, -cap|ing, noun, adjective.

–v.i.

1. to get free; get out and away: »

The soldier escaped from the enemy's prison. The bird escaped from its cage.

SYNONYM(S): flee.

2. to avoid capture, trouble, punishment, or any threatened evil: »

Up to this time the thief has escaped.

3. to come out or find a way out from a container; leak: »

Gas had been escaping from the cylinder all night.

4. Botany. to grow wild.

–v.t.

1. to get free from: »

He thinks he will never escape hard work. Escape me? Never—Beloved! While I am I, and you are you (Robert Browning).

2. to keep free or safe from: »

We all escaped the measles.

3. Figurative. to come out of without being intended: »

A cescaped her lips.

4. to fail to be noticed or remembered by: »

The pin escaped my eye. I knew his face, but his name escaped me.

–n.

1. the act of escaping: »

His escape was aided by the thick fog.

2. a way of escaping: »

a fire escape. There was no escape from the trap.

3. Figurative. relief from boredom, trouble, tension, responsibility, or other burden: »

Some people find escape in mystery stories.

4. an outflow or leakage, as of gas or water.

5. Botany. a plant that was once cultivated, but is now growing wild in fields or roadsides; wilding.

–adj.

1. providing a way of escape or avoidance: »

The fugitive looked for an easy escape route. Detective stories are escape literature.

2. Figurative. skilled in escaping or freeing oneself from restraints: »

an escape artist.

╂[< Old North French escaper < Vulgar Latin excappāre get out of one's cape < Latin ex- out of + Late Latin cappa cloak, cape¹]

Synonym Study transitive verb. 1, 2 Escape, evade, elude mean to keep free from someone or something. Escape implies avoiding danger or unpleasantness: »

He escaped the fire in the house by jumping out of the window when he smelled smoke.

Evade suggests cleverness or trickery in managing to stay free: »

He used forged papers to evade military service.

Elude suggests slipperiness and quickness in getting away from trouble that is close: »

The bandit eluded the posse that was following him.