Webster's English Dictionary

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escape

1. es.cape \is-'ka-p\ vb [ME escapen, fr. ONF escaper, fr. (assumed) VL 
   excappare, fr.] L ex- + LL cappa head covering, cloak 1a: to get away (as 
   by flight)  1b: to issue from confinement {gas is escaping}  of a plant  
   1c: to run wild from cultivation  2: to avoid a threatening evil  1: to get 
   out of the way of : AVOID  2: to fail to be noticed or recallable by {his 
   name ~s me}  3a: to issue from  3b: to be uttered involuntarily by ESCAPE 
   stresses the fact of getting away or being passed by not necessarily 
   through effort or by conscious intent; AVOID stresses forethought and 
   caution in keeping clear of danger or difficulty; EVADE implies adroitness, 
   ingenuity, or lack of scruple in escaping or avoiding; ELUDE implies a 
   slippery or baffling quality in the person or thing that escapes; SHUN 
   often implies an avoiding as a matter of habitual practice or policy and 
   may imply repugnance or abhorrence; ESCHEW implies an avoiding or 
   abstaining from as unwise or distasteful - es.cap.er n SYN syn AVOID, 
   EVADE, ELUDE, SHUN, ESCHEW:  
2. escape n 1: an act or instance of escaping : as  1a: flight from 
   confinement  1b: evasion of something undesirable  1c: leakage or outflow 
   esp. of a fluid  1d: distraction or relief from routine or reality  2: a 
   means of escape  3: a cultivated plant run wild 
3. escape aj 1: relating to escape from reality {~ literature}  2: 
   providing a means of escape {an ~ clause}