Word family noun escape escapism escapee escapologist adjective escaped inescapable escapist verb escape adverb inescapably
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishescapees‧cape1 /ɪˈskeɪp/ ●●● S3 W2 verb 1 person/placeESCAPE [intransitive] to leave a place when someone is trying to catch you or stop you, or when there is a dangerous situation He broke down the locked door and escaped.escape from/through/over etc He escaped from prison in October.escape to She escaped to Britain in 1938.2 dangerESCAPE [intransitive, transitive] to get away from a dangerous or bad situationescape with He escaped with minor injuries.escape unhurt/unscathed/unharmed etc A boy escaped unhurt when the fire in his room exploded. They went to the hills to escape the summer heat.escape somebody’s clutches (=escape from someone) The youth was trying to escape the clutches of two drunken female companions.3 avoidESCAPE [intransitive, transitive] to avoid something bad or that you do not want to happen He narrowly escaped death in an avalanche. The two passengers escaped serious injury. They must not be allowed to escape justice. It seemed impossible he would escape detection.4 gas/liquid etcPOUR [intransitive] if gas, liquid, light, heat etc escapes from somewhere, it comes out Vents allow any steam to escape if the system overheats.5 soundSOUND [intransitive, transitive] literary if a sound escapes from someone, they accidentally make that sound A small laugh escaped her.escape from Holman let a weary sigh escape from his lips. 6 → escape somebody’s attention/notice7 → the name/date/title etc escapes somebody8 → there’s no escaping (the fact)COLLOCATIONS – Meanings 1,2 & 3verbstry/attempt to escapeSome prisoners tried to escape, but most were recaptured or shot.nounsescape injury (=not be hurt)Both drivers were lucky to escape serious injury.escape justice (=not be caught and punished)These terrorists must not be allowed to escape justice.escape detection (=not be noticed)Some insects manage to escape detection by merging with the background.escape somebody’s clutches (=escape and not be caught be someone)He managed to escape the men’s clutches and run off.phrasesnarrowly escape something (=only just avoid having something bad happen to you)The firemen narrowly escaped being killed by the explosion.escape with your life (=escape and not be killed)When the tunnel collapsed, the men were lucky to escape with their lives.escape unharmed/unscathed/unhurtTwo policemen were killed, but the president escaped unharmed.escape aliveThe crew of the sinking vessel were lucky to escape alive. THESAURUSescape to leave a place when someone is trying to catch you or stop you, or when there is a dangerous situationThe thief escaped through an upstairs window.She managed to escape from her attacker and call the police.get away to escape from someone who is chasing you, especially when there is no chance that you will be caught. Get away is more informal than escapeThe robbers got away but left plenty of clues at the scene.Don’t let him get away!break free/break away to escape from someone who is holding youShe broke free and started running.flee written to leave somewhere very quickly in order to escape from dangerMany people were forced to flee the country.The two men fled before police arrived.get out to escape from a building or roomI was locked in the room and couldn’t get out.break out to escape from prisonThe jail is so secure that no one has ever broken out of it.abscond formal to escape from a prison or institution where you are supposed to stayThree prisoners who absconded have still not been found.He absconded from a psychiatric hospital. → See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
escape• Police surrounded the building, but somehow the gunman managed to escape.• There was no possible way to escape.• Guards have been ordered to shoot anyone trying to escape.• Lots of computer-generated technical dazzle in this fantasy about jungle animals escaping a supernatural board game and terrorizing a New Hampshire town.• Weldon Flaharty, said in a recent interview that he inexplicably escaped administrative punishment, which could have shortened his career.• Only four people managed to escape before the roof collapsed.• Hare escaped death by testifying against his partner, who was later hanged.• Josie managed to escape from her attacker and call the police.• He was one of nine men who escaped from prison in July.• He escaped from prison in June, but was rearrested by police a month later.• A cloud of poisonous gas escaped from the chemical plant.• He ducked down an alley to escape from the mob that was chasing him.• Criminals generally know their neighborhood well, so it's not difficult for them to escape into the back streets.• He has escaped lightly from other brushes with the law, and from politically incorrect condemnations of homosexuality, feminism and contraception.• I know I've heard this song before but its name escapes me.• Although I know that the novel was published in the nineteenth century, the actual date escapes me.• Some people were able to escape over the border into Tanzania.• Knowingly or not, others have narrowly escaped Pottker.• Many young offenders escape punishment completely.• And suddenly she couldn't escape quickly enough.• I could see no way of escaping the boredom of the small-town social scene.• So far the terrorists have managed to escape the police.• But it means retailers' profit margins escape the tax net.• People are willing to pay $10 for a movie ticket to escape their problems.• It looks as if they've escaped. They're probably over the border by now.• Grant had escaped through a bathroom window while in police custody.• Four prisoners escaped through a hole in the fence.• Gerhard Berger escaped unhurt from a high-speed collision with Ferrari team-mate Jean Alesi.escape from/through/over etc• Wild phlox, long escaped from neat gardens, perfumed every roadside.• Had they all in fact something to escape from, perhaps something they didn't even acknowledge to themselves?• Females often try to escape from the alpha male's vigilance, and will go up to the beta male and solicit copulation.• Their representatives are helping thousands of orphaned children and displaced families escape from the tyranny of civil war.• For many people the only possible escape from their permanent state of poverty and malnourishment is to emigrate.escape unhurt/unscathed/unharmed etc• Her two-week-old baby Harriet escaped unscathed.• They were lucky to escape unharmed.• Kettlewell and Taylor escaped unhurt after the accident outside Middleham on the way to the races.• Two women in the car escaped unhurt, but the home owner says he's lucky to be alive.• Gerhard Berger escaped unhurt from a high-speed collision with Ferrari team-mate Jean Alesi.• Fire escape: A man escaped unhurt from an early morning blaze in Bromborough.• The only department which explicitly escapes unscathed is the one which Conservatives would most like to abolish: the Department of Energy.• Joseph Aspinall, five, escaped unhurt when the fireplace exploded in his room at Bispham, Lancs, yesterday.narrowly escaped• For a moment Trent and Mariana were held immobile, stunned by the incredible power from which they had so narrowly escaped.• Looking to her heart, she sees the chasm left by a death she narrowly escaped.• With Emma he had played with fire and narrowly escaped burning.• During the war he narrowly escaped death dozens of times.• His three year-old daughter Jade narrowly escaped death when bullets were fired through the front door.• Read in studio A baby boy narrowly escaped death when his pram was crushed between a car and a garden wall.• In both cases, the journalists narrowly escaped injury but the houses from which they had been transmitting were devastated.• Knowingly or not, others have narrowly escaped Pottker.escapeescape2 ●●○ S3 noun 1 ESCAPE[countable, uncountable] the act of getting away from a place, or a dangerous or bad situation The girl had no chance of escape. Christina hoped it wouldn’t be too long before she could make her escape.escape from the firm’s narrow escape from bankruptcy an escape route They had a lucky escape (=were lucky not to be hurt or killed) when a car crashed into the front of their house.2 ESCAPE[singular, uncountable] a way of forgetting about a bad or boring situation for a short timeescape from Travel can be an escape from the routine drudgery of life.3 POUR[countable, uncountable] an amount of gas, liquid etc that accidentally comes out of the place where it is being kept, or an occasion when this happens The lid prevents the escape of poisonous gases. → fire escapeCOLLOCATIONS – Meaning 1: the act of getting away from a place, or a dangerous or bad situationverbsplan an escapeWe planned our escape carefully and waited for just the right moment.prevent an escape (also foil an escape formal) (=stop an escape)Walker grabbed her firmly by the wrist, preventing any chance of escape.make your escape formal (=to escape)I had to make my escape before the guards returned.escape + NOUNan escape attempt/bidShe made several unsuccessful escape attempts before finally getting away.an escape planYou should have an escape plan in the event of a fire.an escape routeAll their escape routes had been blocked.phraseshave a narrow escape (=to only just avoid danger or difficulties)The team had a narrow escape from relegation last season.have a lucky escapeWe had a lucky escape when a tree crashed through the ceiling.have a miraculous escape (=be extremely lucky to escape)Ellie had miraculous escape after a firework exploded in her hand.a means of escape (=a way of escaping)She searched in vain for a means of escape.a chance/hope/possibility of escapeThe river offered our only hope of escape.make good your escape literary (=to succeed in escaping)Dillinger handcuffed the deputy to the desk and made good his escape. COLLOCATIONS – Meaning 2: a way of forgetting about a bad or boring situation for a short timephrasesa means of escape (=a way of forgetting about a bad situation)Drugs and alcohol are their only means of escape.somebody’s escape route from something (=someone’s only chance of getting away from a bad situation)Bankruptcy offered his only escape route from mounting debt. Examples from the Corpus
escape• McClellan considered Malvern Hill not so much a victory as another escape from disaster.• Some parts of the Bill are relevant to an attempted escape.• "Tunnel to Tanto Grande" the story of a daring escape staged by political prisoners in Peru.• Salim makes good his escape on the steamer - bound, we take it, for his bride.• Until his escape from the camps, he was beaten nearly everyday by his captors.• This gives the bird only about 10 seconds to make its escape from a wide bodied Boeing 747.• The fireman said they'd had a very lucky escape.• It was a narrow escape - a couple of minutes later the whole place went up in flames.• There is no escape from the physical nor is there any escape from the mind.• There is no escape from the difficulties of growing up.• Books are a good form of escape.• Visitors who come with only escape on their minds usually leave with a Chan Chich bird list.• Methane blocks the escape of heat from the atmosphere.• Most of the money was spent within a month of the escape.• The gang had planned their escape thoroughly.• They had planned their escape very carefully.make ... escape• I did make my escape from Roundhay - by a route taken by many of my contemporaries: higher education.• By the time they had sorted out the confusion and given chase, the woman had made good her escape.• But Solomon sat tight in his rain barrel, and after the cossacks had left empty-handed, he made his escape.• Salim makes good his escape on the steamer - bound, we take it, for his bride.• At all events the pursuit came to a sudden halt and Henry was able to make good his escape in peace.• I decided to make my escape as soon as I could.Origin escape1 (1200-1300) Old North French escaper, from Vulgar Latin excappare, from Late Latin cappa “head-covering”; from the idea of throwing off something that limits your movement 