Library / English Dictionary

ESCAPE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of escaping physically

Example:

his flight was an indication of his guilt

Synonyms:

escape; flight

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("escape" is a kind of...):

running away (the act of leaving (without permission) the place you are expected to be)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "escape"):

evasion (the act of physically escaping from something (an opponent or a pursuer or an unpleasant situation) by some adroit maneuver)

break; breakout; gaolbreak; jailbreak; prison-breaking; prisonbreak (an escape from jail)

getaway; lam (a rapid escape (as by criminals))

exodus; hegira; hejira (a journey by a large group to escape from a hostile environment)

skedaddle (a hasty flight)

Instance hyponyms:

Hegira; Hejira (the flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 which marked the beginning of the Muslim era; the Muslim calendar begins in that year)

Underground Railroad; Underground Railway (secret aid to escaping slaves that was provided by abolitionists in the years before the American Civil War)

Derivation:

escape (run away from confinement)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A means or way of escaping

Example:

their escape route

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("escape" is a kind of...):

agency; means; way (thing or person that acts to produce a particular effect or achieve an end)

Derivation:

escape (run away from confinement)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An avoidance of danger or difficulty

Example:

that was a narrow escape

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("escape" is a kind of...):

avoidance; dodging; shunning; turning away (deliberately avoiding; keeping away from or preventing from happening)

Derivation:

escape (fail to experience)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An inclination to retreat from unpleasant realities through diversion or fantasy

Example:

his alcohol problem was a form of escapism

Synonyms:

escape; escapism

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("escape" is a kind of...):

diversion; recreation (an activity that diverts or amuses or stimulates)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Nonperformance of something distasteful (as by deceit or trickery) that you are supposed to do

Example:

that escape from the consequences is possible but unattractive

Synonyms:

dodging; escape; evasion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("escape" is a kind of...):

carelessness; neglect; negligence; nonperformance (failure to act with the prudence that a reasonable person would exercise under the same circumstances)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "escape"):

escape mechanism (a form of behavior that evades unpleasant realities)

malingering; skulking (evading duty or work by pretending to be incapacitated)

goldbricking; goofing off; shirking; slacking; soldiering (the evasion of work or duty)

circumvention (the act of evading by going around)

Derivation:

escape (fail to experience)

escape (escape potentially unpleasant consequences; get away with a forbidden action)

escape (remove oneself from a familiar environment, usually for pleasure or diversion)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A valve in a container in which pressure can build up (as a steam boiler); it opens automatically when the pressure reaches a dangerous level

Synonyms:

escape; escape cock; escape valve; relief valve; safety valve

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("escape" is a kind of...):

regulator (any of various controls or devices for regulating or controlling fluid flow, pressure, temperature, etc.)

valve (control consisting of a mechanical device for controlling the flow of a fluid)

Sense 7

Meaning:

The discharge of a fluid from some container

Example:

he had to clean up the leak

Synonyms:

escape; leak; leakage; outflow

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("escape" is a kind of...):

discharge; outpouring; run (the pouring forth of a fluid)

Derivation:

escape (issue or leak, as from a small opening)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A plant originally cultivated but now growing wild

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("escape" is a kind of...):

flora; plant; plant life ((botany) a living organism lacking the power of locomotion)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Issue or leak, as from a small opening

Example:

Gas escaped into the bedroom

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "escape" is one way to...):

come forth; come out; egress; emerge; go forth; issue (come out of)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

escape (the discharge of a fluid from some container)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Fail to experience

Example:

Fortunately, I missed the hurricane

Synonyms:

escape; miss

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "escape" is one way to...):

avoid (stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

escape (an avoidance of danger or difficulty)

escape (nonperformance of something distasteful (as by deceit or trickery) that you are supposed to do)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Escape potentially unpleasant consequences; get away with a forbidden action

Example:

I couldn't get out from under these responsibilities

Synonyms:

escape; get away; get by; get off; get out

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "escape" is one way to...):

avoid (stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "escape"):

evade (use cunning or deceit to escape or avoid)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

escape (nonperformance of something distasteful (as by deceit or trickery) that you are supposed to do)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Run away from confinement

Example:

The convicted murderer escaped from a high security prison

Synonyms:

break loose; escape; get away

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "escape" is one way to...):

flee; fly; take flight (run away quickly)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "escape"):

break; break away; break out (move away or escape suddenly)

escape from; shake; shake off; throw off (get rid of)

bilk; elude; evade (escape, either physically or mentally)

exfiltrate (escape furtively, as from an area under enemy control)

slip (move smoothly and easily)

run away (escape from the control of)

escape; get away (remove oneself from a familiar environment, usually for pleasure or diversion)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

escape (the act of escaping physically)

escape (a means or way of escaping)

escapee (someone who escapes)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Flee; take to one's heels; cut and run

Example:

The burglars escaped before the police showed up

Synonyms:

break away; bunk; escape; fly the coop; head for the hills; hightail it; lam; run; run away; scarper; scat; take to the woods; turn tail

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "escape" is one way to...):

go away; go forth; leave (go away from a place)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "escape"):

flee; fly; take flight (run away quickly)

skedaddle (run away, as if in a panic)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 6

Meaning:

Remove oneself from a familiar environment, usually for pleasure or diversion

Example:

The president of the company never manages to get away during the summer

Synonyms:

escape; get away

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "escape" is one way to...):

break loose; escape; get away (run away from confinement)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

escape (nonperformance of something distasteful (as by deceit or trickery) that you are supposed to do)

escapist (a person who escapes into a world of fantasy)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by

Example:

What you are seeing in him eludes me

Synonyms:

elude; escape

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "escape" is one way to...):

amaze; baffle; beat; bewilder; dumbfound; flummox; get; gravel; mystify; nonplus; perplex; pose; puzzle; stick; stupefy; vex (be a mystery or bewildering to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "escape"):

defy; refuse; resist (elude, especially in a baffling way)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The performance is likely to escape Sue

Credits

 Context examples: 

"But anything smaller than that net mesh has been escaping."

(Microplastics million times more abundant in the ocean than previously thought, National Science Foundation)

In addition, the escaping magnesium and iron gas may contribute to the temperature spike.

(Hubble Uncovers a ‘Heavy Metal’ Exoplanet Shaped Like a Football, NASA)

Never mind what John said, or what a very narrow escape the little bonnet had from utter ruin.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

While larger galaxies have more matter to begin with, they're also harder to escape for travelling atoms, which is why the flow usually goes towards the bigger galaxies.

(Half Our Body's Atoms Could Have Come from Outside The Galaxy, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

His jaws let go their grip, and he leaped backward to escape this strange danger, his lips drawn back from his fangs, his throat snarling, every hair bristling with rage and fright.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

An intense fear of being in open places or in situations where it may be hard to escape, or where help may not be available.

(Agoraphobia, NCI Dictionary)

In the ferrets exposed to the Bundibugyo virus and treated with ADI-15742, the virus developed a single mutation that enabled it to escape the antibody’s effects.

(Antibodies from Ebola survivor protect mice and ferrets against related viruses, NIH)

MAVEN then will begin its one Earth-year primary mission, taking measurements of the composition, structure and escape of gases in Mars' upper atmosphere and its interaction with the sun and solar wind.

(Mars Mission Spacecraft Enters Orbit around Red Planet, NASA)

This particular energy range offers astronomers a detailed look at what is happening near the event horizon, the region around a black hole from which light can no longer escape gravity's grasp.

(NuSTAR sees rare blurring of black hole light, NASA)

The youth nevertheless escaped from them, but his horse leapt so violently that the helmet fell from the youth’s head, and they could see that he had golden hair.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)