Es*cape", n. (Bot.) A plant
which has escaped from cultivation.
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.
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.
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.
&fist; 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.
Es*cape", n. (Bot.) A plant
which has escaped from cultivation.
