1. [n]  the act of escaping physically; "he made his escape from the mental hospital"; "the canary escaped from its cage"; "his flight was an indication of his guilt"
2. [n]  a means or way of escaping; "hard work was his escape from worry"; "they installed a second hatch as an escape"; "their escape route"
3. [n]  an avoidance of danger or difficulty; "that was a narrow escape"
4. [n]  an inclination to retreat from unpleasant realities through diversion or fantasy; "romantic novels were her escape from the stress of daily life"; "his alcohol problem was a form of escapism"
5. [n]  nonperformance of something distasteful (as by deceit or trickery) that you are supposed to do; "his evasion of his clear duty was reprehensible"; "that escape from the consequences is possible but unattractive"
6. [n]  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
7. [n]  the unwanted discharge of a fluid from some container; "they tried to stop the escape of gas from the damaged pipe"; "he had to clean up the leak"
8. [n]  a plant originally cultivated but now growing wild
9. [v]  issue or leak, as from a small opening; "Gas escaped into the bedroom"
10. [v]  fail to experience; "Fortunately, I missed the hurricane"
11. [v]  escape potentially unpleasant consequences; get away with a forbidden action; "She gets away with murder!"; "I couldn't get out from under these responsibilities"
12. [v]  run away from confinement; "The convicted murderer escaped from a high security prison"
13. [v]  remove oneself from a familiar environment, usually for pleasure or diversion; "We escaped to our summer house for a few days"; "The president of the company never manages to get away during the summer"
14. [v]  be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by; "What you are seeing in him eludes me"

Escape
Escape

more details ...

1. \Es*cape"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Escaped}; p. pr. & vb.
   n. {Escaping}.] [OE. escapen, eschapen, OF. escaper,
   eschaper, F. echapper, fr. LL. ex cappa out of one's cape or
   cloak; hence, to slip out of one's cape and escape. See 3d
   {Cape}, and cf. {Scape}, v.]
   1. To flee from and avoid; to be saved or exempt from; to
      shun; to obtain security from; as, to escape danger.
      ``Sailors that escaped the wreck.'' --Shak.
   2. To avoid the notice of; to pass unobserved by; to evade;
      as, the fact escaped our attention.
            They escaped the search of the enemy. --Ludlow.
   

2. \Es*cape"\, v. i.
   1. To flee, and become secure from danger; -- often followed
      by from or out of.
            Haste, for thy life escape, nor look behind??
                                                  --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.
   

3. \Es*cape"\, n.
   1. The act of fleeing from danger, of evading harm, or of
      avoiding notice; deliverance from injury or any evil;
      flight; as, an escape in battle; a narrow escape; also,
      the means of 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.
   Note: 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.
   {Escape pipe} (Steam Boilers), a pipe for carrying away steam
      that escapes through a safety valve.
   {Escape valve} (Steam Engine), a relief valve; a safety
      valve. See under {Relief}, and {Safety}.
   {Escape wheel} (Horol.), the wheel of an escapement.
   

4. \Es*cape"\, n. (Bot.)
   A plant which has escaped from cultivation.
   

1. An early system on the IBM 650.

   [Listed in CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959)].

2. (ESC) ASCII character 27.

   When sent by the user, escape is often used to abort execution or data entry. When sent by the computer it often starts an escape sequence.