escape

i-SKAYP/ɪˈskeɪp/

Verbescapes, escaping, escaped

Noun pluralescapes

18 meanings of escape

Practice

1
get freeverbtransitive or intransitive
To get out of a place where you are kept, or get away before you are caught.
Like a fish slipping out of a net.
Two prisoners managed to escape during the night.
The bird escaped through an open window.
UsageSay escape from a place: escape from prison.
Similarflee
2
verbtransitive
To avoid something bad, or to get away from someone or something you find unpleasant.
She escaped her boring job by traveling abroad.
They escape the city heat every summer.
UsageUsed directly before a noun: escape the heat, escape punishment.
Similarevade, elude, avoid, dodge
3
nouncountable or uncountable
The act of getting away from a dangerous or bad situation.
Their escape from the burning building was caught on camera.
After the crash, escape was the only thing on her mind.
UsagePeople make their escape; say escape from a place.
Similarflight, getaway
4
leak outverbtransitive or intransitive
To get out of something, often by accident or without control, said of gas, liquid, light, or sound.
We could hear the music escape through the open window.
Oil escaped from the old car and left a dark spot on the road.
UsageSay gas escapes from or out of something.
Similarleak, seep
Note
5
nouncountable
Something, like a trip, a hobby or a quiet place, that gives you a break from everyday life and its problems.
The beach trip was a perfect escape from work.
They badly needed an escape from the daily grind.
UsageSay an escape from work or city life.
Similargetaway, retreat, break, respite, vacation
6
go unnoticedverbtransitive
To not be noticed or remembered by someone.
Important details often escape busy parents.
His name escaped me for a moment.
UsageThe thing you forget comes first: his name escapes me means you cannot remember it.
Similarelude
Note

Less common meanings

7
noununcountable
The key on a keyboard marked Esc, used to stop or cancel things.
Hit escape to close the pop-up window.
Press escape to leave full-screen mode.
UsageSay press escape or press the escape key.
Note
8
fugitivenouncountable
A person, animal, or thing that has gotten away from a place where it was kept.
Like a bird that has flown out of an open cage.
Bird watchers think the pink flamingo is an escape from a zoo.
The parrot in our garden turned out to be an escape from a pet shop.
Similarescapee, runaway, fugitive
Note
9
leakagenouncountable
The leaking out of steam, gas, water, or electricity from a place where it should stay in.
Like air slowly leaking out of a balloon through a tiny hole.
Engineers traced the escape of steam to a cracked valve.
A small escape of gas filled the room with a faint smell.
UsageSay an escape of gas or steam.
Similarleak, leakage, outflow, discharge, emission
10
cancel (computer)verbtransitive or intransitive
To stop a program by pressing a special key, often the Esc key.
Press the Esc key to escape the menu.
If the program freezes, you can escape and start over.
UsageYou can escape a menu or escape out of a program.
Similarcancel, exit, quit
Note
11
treat as textverbtransitive
To mark a character so the computer reads it as ordinary text instead of giving it a special meaning.
You need to escape the quotation marks in the code.
He escaped the special characters before saving the file.
Note
12
character 27nouncountable
A hidden computer character, numbered 27, that often signals the start of a special command.
Like a secret signal that tells the computer something special is coming next.
The terminal treats an escape as the beginning of a control code.
Each escape in the data stream told the old printer to switch modes.
Note
13
snookernouncountable
In snooker, a shot that hits the right ball after your direct path to it was blocked.
Like finding a way out when someone has blocked the only door.
Her clever escape off three cushions caught the red ball cleanly.
Blocked behind the pink ball, she played a neat escape off the cushion.
Note
14
wild plantnouncountable
A garden or farm plant that has spread and now grows in the wild.
Like a pet that runs off and starts living outside on its own.
Botanists labeled the bright flower an escape from a nearby garden.
That patch of mint is an escape that took root by the stream.
Note
15
nounobsoletecountable
A mistake, slip, or wrongdoing that has gone unnoticed or unchecked.
I should have been more accurate, corrected all those former escapes.
1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of MelancholyHere, escapes means mistakes or slips that went unnoticed.
Note
16
nounobsoletecountable
A sudden burst of words or feeling that breaks out without warning.
thousand escapes of wit
c. 1603, William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”Here, escapes means sudden bursts of clever words breaking out.
Note
17
noun
A faulty product that leaves the factory by mistake instead of being caught and removed.
18
noun
In building design, the small inward curve where a column meets its base or top.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of escape apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

It came through Middle English and Old French from a Latin-based word *excappāre, which literally meant to slip out of your cape or cloak and so get free.

Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

The stated transmission through Middle English and Old French is correct. en.wiktionary.org
The literal meaning describes getting free from one's cape or cloak. en.wiktionary.org