Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Escape
Es-cape′
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Escaped
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Escaping
.] 1.
To flee from and avoid; to be saved or exempt from; to shun; to obtain security from;
“Sailors that escaped the wreck.” as, to
. escape
dangerShak.
2.
To avoid the notice of; to pass unobserved by; to evade;
as, the fact
. escaped
our attentionThey
escaped
the search of the enemy. Ludlow.
Es-cape′
,Verb.
I.
1.
To flee, and become secure from danger; – often followed by from or out of.
Haste, for thy life
escape
, nor look behind[GREEK][GREEK] Keble.
2.
To get clear from danger or evil of any form; to be passed without harm.
Such heretics . . . would have been thought fortunate, if they
escaped
with life. Macaulay.
3.
To get free from that which confines or holds; – used of persons or things;
as, to
escape
from prison, from arrest, or from slavery; gas escapes
from the pipes; electricity escapes
from its conductors.To
escape
out of these meshes. Thackeray.
Es-cape′
,Noun.
1.
The act of fleeing from danger, of evading harm, or of avoiding notice; deliverance from injury or any evil; flight;
as, an
; also, the means of escape; escape
in battle; a narrow escape
as, a fire
. escape
I would hasten my
escape
from the windy storm. Ps. lv. 8.
2.
That which escapes attention or restraint; a mistake; an oversight; also, transgression.
[Obs.]
I should have been more accurate, and corrected all those former
escapes
. Burton.
3.
A sally.
“Thousand escapes of wit.” Shak.
4.
(Law)
The unlawful permission, by a jailer or other custodian, of a prisoner's departure from custody.
☞ Escape is technically distinguishable from prison breach, which is the unlawful departure of the prisoner from custody, escape being the permission of the departure by the custodian, either by connivance or negligence. The term escape, however, is applied by some of the old authorities to a departure from custody by stratagem, or without force.
Wharton.
5.
(Arch.)
An apophyge.
6.
Leakage or outflow, as of steam or a liquid.
7.
(Elec.)
Leakage or loss of currents from the conducting wires, caused by defective insulation.
Webster 1828 Edition
Escape
ESCA'PE
,Verb.
T.
1.
To flee from and avoid; to get out of the way; to shun; to obtain security from; to pass without harm; as, to escape danger.A small number, that escape the sword, shall return. Jer.44.
Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2 Pet.1.
2.
To pass unobserved; to evade; as, the fact escaped my notice or observation.3.
To avoid the danger of; as, to escape the sea. Act.28.Note. This verb is properly intransitive, and in strictness should be followed by from; but usage sanctions the omission of it.
ESCA'PE
,Verb.
I.
Escape for thy life to the mountains. Gen.19.
1.
To be passed without harm. The balls whistled by me, my comrades fell, but I escaped.ESCA'PE
,Noun.
I would hasten my escape from the windy storm. Ps.55.
1.
A being passed without receiving injury, as when danger comes near a person, but passes by, and the person is passive. Every soldier who survives a battle has had such an escape.2.
Excuse; subterfuge; evasion.3.
In law, an evasion of legal restraint or the custody of the sheriff, without due course of law. Escapes are voluntary or involuntary; voluntary, when an officer permits an offender or debtor to quit his custody, without warrant; and involuntary, or negligent, when an arrested person quits the custody of the officer against his will, and is not pursued forthwith and retaken before the pursuer hath lost sight of him.4.
Sally; flight; irregularity. [Little used.]5.
Oversight; mistake. [Little used, or improper.]