Escape

Escape refers to the act of getting away from confinement, danger, or pursuers, or to avoid or elude something undesirable. It can be a physical act, such as breaking out of captivity, or a metaphorical one, such as escaping poverty or a bad situation. As a noun, escape denotes the act itself, a means of getting away, or something that enables departure, such as an escape route or an escape hatch.

Etymology: from Old French eschapper (to slip away), from es- (out) andchapper (to catch). The sense of avoiding capture developed in Middle English.

Common uses include leaving a hazardous situation, using emergency exits, or seeking temporary relief from routine via a vacation or other leisure escape. In captivity, escape implies overcoming confinement, sometimes involving risk or deception. The term also appears in expressions like escape from reality.

Science and technology assign specialized senses. In physics, escape velocity is the speed needed to overcome a body's gravitational pull. In computing, an escape character marks the following characters as having a special meaning, as in backslash escaping sequences. The Esc key on keyboards serves to cancel, abort, or exit operations in many interfaces.

In culture and media, escape is a common motif, including stories of fugitives, escape rooms, or fantasies of leaving daily life behind. It can function as plot device or social commentary.

Related terms include evacuation, exit, escape velocity, escape sequence, escape key, and escape hatch.