(escapes, escaping, escaped)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
If you escape from a place, you succeed in getting away from it.
A prisoner has escaped from a jail in northern England...
They are reported to have escaped to the other side of the border...
He was fatally wounded as he tried to escape.
VERB: no passive, V from n, V to n, V
• escaped
Officers mistook Stephen for an escaped prisoner.
ADJ
2.
Someone's escape is the act of escaping from a particular place or situation.
The man made his escape.
N-COUNT: usu poss N
3.
You can say that you escape when you survive something such as an accident.
The two officers were extremely lucky to escape serious injury...
The man's girlfriend managed to escape unhurt...
He narrowly escaped with his life when suspected right-wing extremists fired shots into his office.
VERB: V n, V adj, V prep
•
Escape is also a noun.
I hear you had a very narrow escape on the bridge.
N-COUNT
4.
If something is an escape, it is a way of avoiding difficulties or responsibilities.
But for me television is an escape.
...an escape from the depressing realities of wartime.
N-COUNT: usu sing
5.
You can use escape to describe things which allow you to avoid difficulties or problems. For example, an escape route is an activity or opportunity that lets you improve your situation. An escape clause is part of an agreement that allows you to avoid having to do something that you do not want to do.
We all need the occasional escape route from the boring, routine aspects of our lives...
This has, in fact, turned out to be a wonderful escape clause for dishonest employers everywhere.
ADJ: ADJ n
6.
If something escapes you or escapes your attention, you do not know about it, do not remember it, or do not notice it.
It was an actor whose name escapes me for the moment...
VERB: V n
7.
When gas, liquid, or heat escapes, it comes out from a pipe, container, or place.
Leave a vent open to let some moist air escape.
VERB: V
8.