▪ I. escape, n.1
(ɪˈskeɪp)
Also 4–5 eschap(e.
[f. escape v.; cf. OF. eschap (perh. the source in 14th c.), Sp. escape.]
1. a. The action of escaping, or the fact of having escaped, from custody, danger, etc.; spec. in Law: see quot. 1641.
| α c 1300 K. Alis. 4287 For that eschape they beon anoyed sore. 1375 Barbour Bruce ii. 65 He wes off his eschap sary. 1417 Bp. Clifford in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 29. I. 90 Foryevyng me graciously the eschapes of the clerkes convictes out of my prison of Storteford. |
| β 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. i. i. 235 Your fellow Tranio..Puts my apparrell..on, And I for my escape haue put on his. 1611 Bible Ps. lv. 8, I would hasten my escape from the windie storme, and tempest. 1614 B. Jonson Barth. Fair iv. iv, What, has he made an escape! which way? follow, neighbour Haggise. 1641 Termes de la Ley 142 Escape is where one that is arrested commeth to his liberty before that he be delivered by award of any Justice, or by order of Law. 1659 Hammond On Ps. lxviii. 20. Paraphr. 330 To him we owe all our escapes. 1698 Ludlow Mem. I. 221 No sooner was the King's Escape taken notice of by the Guards. 1713 Addison Guardian (J.), Men of virtue have had extraordinary escapes out of such dangers as have enclosed them. 1769 Blackstone Comm. III. 415 When a defendant is once in custody upon this process [ca. sa.]..if he be afterwards seen at large, it is an escape. 1777 Priestley Matt. & Spir. (1782) I. xx. 267 An igneous substance, which..makes its escape at death. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 171 His escape was attributed partly to his own singular equanimity, and partly to, etc. 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 65 Yet is..forbidden premature escape from time. |
b. fig. Mental or emotional distraction,
esp. by way of literature or music, from the realities of life.
| 1853 Dickens in Househ. Words, extra Xmas no. 35/2 Labouring people..in need of mental refreshment and recreation... Come! Amuse me harmlessly, show me something, give me an escape! 1919 English Rev. Mar. 183 It has been said by Mr. Arthur Symons that ‘all art is a mode of escape’. 1923 Time 14 Apr. 14/3 For the cities are saturated with the literature of escape. 1933 Amer. Speech VIII. iii. 34/1 Those who use drugs merely as an escape-mechanism while incarcerated. 1934 Punch 18 Apr. 440/1 Libel makes no pretence to belong to any other class than it is now the contemptuous fashion to call the literature of escape. 1942 Sphere 25 July 120/1 Music always enjoys a boom in wartime. It acts as a magic carpet, as an escape. 1954 M. F. Rodell Mystery Fiction (ed. 2) ii. 4 Mysteries belong to the vast category of escape fiction. 1969 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 16 Nov. 16/3 But far from being escape reading, these fantasties often make more penetrating comments on the ‘real’ world than realistic fiction does. |
c. The action of escaping from the region where the gravitational force of a planet is predominant. Usu.
attrib. (See 8 below.)
| 1947 Jrnl. Aeronaut. Sci. XIV. 471 (heading) The problem of escape from the earth by rocket. |
2. concr. a. A plant that has ‘escaped’ from cultivation, a garden plant growing wild.
| 1870 Hooker Stud. Flora 16 Chelidonium majus..in the S. of England, elsewhere an obvious escape. 1887 W. R. Hayward Botanist's Pocket-bk. Pref. (ed. 5) 4 In many cases they [alien plants] are escapes from gardens. |
b. U.S. An escaped person, a fugitive.
| 1881 Philada. Record No. 3464. 4 All the Chinese in this country, excepting officials, were escapes. |
c. A bird that has escaped from captivity.
| 1937 Brit. Birds XXXI. 27 There is no reason to think this bird an escape as the place is very remote. 1953 D. A. Bannerman Birds Brit. Isles I. 108 There is a doubt as to whether they were genuine wild birds or merely ‘escapes’ from captivity. |
3. A means of escape. In fire-escape; and short for that word.
| 1810 Trans. Soc. Arts XXVIII. 177 If every parish would provide one of these escapes..it would lessen the many accidents which occur by fire. 1887 Daily News 16 May 6/2 The fire brigade ran out a couple of their escapes. |
4. a. The escaping of water, gases, etc. from confinement; in recent use
esp. a leakage of gas, electricity, etc.
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 808 Escape (Telegraphy), leakage of current from the line-wire to the ground, caused usually by defective insulation and contact with partial conductors. a 1891 Mod. There is an escape of gas in the kitchen. |
† b. euphemistically. (More commonly
scape.)
| 1599 Harsnet Agst. Darell 41 Hee meeting Alice Goodridge in a Coppice did Let an Escape (as the book termeth it) which shee taking to be done in her contempt, etc. |
c. An outlet for a liquid;
esp. a sluice or gate for the outlet of surplus water in a canal. Also
attrib., as
escape drain,
escape head,
escape water.
| 1889 W. Willcocks Egypt. Irrig. ii. 80 The Ibrahimia Canal regulator lock works except when silt deposit interferes. The escape headlock does not work. 1891 Daily News 31 Oct. 6/4 The Koshesha Escape, or Barrage... The escape is constructed to discharge 2,000 million cubic metres in twenty days in good Nile years. 1893 Pall Mall Gaz. 30 Jan. 3/1 The revolution of these caps whips the skim-milk through a broad escape. 1907 W. G. Bligh Irrig. Wks. x. 274 In places on a canal where an Escape or a Branch takes off, a regulating bridge across both works is generally necessary. Ibid. 280 An Escape Head should, if practicable, be combined with a fall. 1911 W. Willcocks Irrig. Mesopot. 27 Every canal system needs its escapes. 1913 Willcocks & Craig Egypt. Irrig. (ed. 3) II. viii. 465 The escape waters of the canals and larger water-courses should be allowed to enter the escape-drain by means of regulators at the tails of the canals. |
† 5. An involuntary outburst of feeling; a sally of wit.
Obs.| 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. i. 63 Thousand escapes of wit Make thee the father of their idle dreame, And racke thee in their fancies. 1670 Cotton Espernon iii. xii. 623 Excusing himself for that little escape of his resentment. 1796 Burke Regic. Peace Wks. 1842 II. 314 Their views were only discovered now and then, in heat and as by escapes, but on this occasion they exploded suddenly. |
† 6. a. An inadvertence, blunder, mistake;
esp. a clerical or printer's error.
Obs.| 1563–87 Foxe A. & M. (1684) II. 469 The book itself sheweth the escape and biddeth instead of four to read three. 1590 Swinburne Testaments Epil., There be sundrie escapes in the print. 1642 Jer. Taylor Episc. To Rdr., The Printer thinkes it the best instance of pardon if his Escapes be not laid upon the Author. 1680 Sir R. Filmer Patriarcha ii. §1 This negligence, or wilful escape of Lambine, in not translating a word. 1721 Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 613 There are several other variations between the 8vo and the quartos; but they seem literal escapes. 1786 Cowper Wks. (1837) XV. 187 Some escapes will happen in so long a work. 1803 S. Pegge Anecd. Eng. Lang. (1844) 134 Many grammatical escapes and errors. 1844 Darwin in Life & Lett. (1887) II. 30 Now you may quiz me for so foolish an escape of mouth. |
† b. An unstudied or artless peformance.
| 1667 Dryden Sir Mart. Mar-all ii. i, I am wholly ignorant of painting, music, and poetry; only some rude escapes. |
† 7. An inconsiderate transgression; a peccadillo, venial error. (In
Shakes. with different notion: an outrageous transgression.) Applied
esp. to breaches of chastity.
Obs.| 1576 J. Woolton Chr. Manual (1851) 74 Yet God, such is his goodness, winketh (as it were) at such escapes. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iv. ii. 113 Rome will despise her for this foul escape. 1596 Lodge Marg. Amer. 37 The escapes of Jupiter, the wanton delights of Venus, and the amorous deceits of Cupid. 1611 Cotgr., Peccadille, an escape, little sinne, small fault, venial offence. 1614 Wither Sat. to King Juvenilia (1633) 339 If her escapes I had not chanced to tell. 1678 Barclay Apol. Quakers 468 O! how will they insult, and make more noise of the escape of one Quaker, than of an hundred among themselves. |
8. Comb. escape clause, a clause in a formal or legal document that specifies the conditions under which a contracting party is free from obligations;
escape-cock (see
quot.);
escape committee, a group of prisoners that plans and co-ordinates escapes from a prisoner-of-war camp, prison, etc.;
escape hatch, an emergency exit in a ship, submarine, or aircraft; also
fig.;
escape-pinion, the pinion on the escape-wheel arbor;
escape-pipe, the pipe through which steam passes from an escape-valve;
escape rocket (see
quots.);
escape-shaft, a shaft provided for the escape of miners in case of the ordinary shaft becoming blocked;
escape-valve, a valve fitted to the boiler, cylinder, or other part of a steam-engine, to provide for the exit of steam or water when necessary;
escape velocity (of space vehicles, etc.), a speed sufficient to overcome the gravitational force of a planet; also
escape speed;
escape-warrant, a process addressed to all sheriffs, etc. throughout England, to retake an escaped prisoner, even on a Sunday, and commit him to proper custody (Wharton);
escape-wheel, the wheel that forms part of the escapement in a watch, called also
escapement-wheel.
| 1945 Time 5 Nov. 29 These prohibitive terms were eased a bit..by an *escape clause under which interest could be postponed in years when Britain had an unfavorable balance of trade. 1948 Ann. Reg. 1947 72 There were so many necessary ‘escape clauses’ that the importance of a permanent organisation to supervise the working of them was apparent. 1966 M. R. D. Foot SOE in France xi. 363 He was given a long list of instructions to carry out in France, but a pair of escape clauses let him omit any that were inconvenient. 1971 Where Sept. 279/1 Pretty well all universities and colleges have some escape clause in their entrance regulations by which they can avoid having to turn away somebody they wish to admit merely because of a lack of formal qualifications. |
| 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 62 *Escape cock is the bracket that supports the upper end of the escape wheel and pallet staff arbors. |
| [1946 Brickhill & Norton Escape to Danger xxvii. 238 An escape assistance committee was set up in the first few days at North Compound.] 1952 M. Gilbert Death in Captivity ii. 32 Colonel Baird was head of the *Escape Committee. 1974 Times 21 Jan. 12/3 The Provisionals long ago set up an escape committee with a representative in each detainee's compound. |
| 1925 Sci. Amer. Dec. 373 The submarine..carried four torpedo tubes at the forward end of the torpedo room, which was provided with an *escape hatch. 1940 Flight 17 Oct. 332/1 He could have followed the rear gunner through the bottom escape hatch. 1948 R. de Kerchove Internat. Maritime Dict. 244/1 Escape hatch, 1. A small hatch..in a 'tween-deck or weather deck for the safe exit of men engaged in trimming or stowing coal or grain. 1955 Sci. News Let. 6 Aug. 86/1 The continuous reconnaissance of people and traffic, preferably from the air for maximum scanning of ‘escape hatches’. 1962 W. Nowottny Lang. Poets Use iv. 84 These crucial words..may serve as escape-hatches from conceptual terms. |
| 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 68 When the verge has an *escape pinion of 6, use an escape pinion of 7. |
| 1817 Coleridge Lay Serm. 425 Superfluous steam ejected by the *escape pipes..of a self-regulating machine. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 39 The dense clouds of steam which roll forth from..the escape-pipe of a steam-engine. |
| 1951 Flight 3 Aug. 141/2 The propellant thus assembled, being stored at a high fraction of escape velocity, will represent a substantial energy potential and its transfer into a single ‘*escape rocket’ will mean that this vehicle supports itself only from the time it leaves the terminal orbit. 1963 M. Caidin Man-in-Space Dict. 76/2 Escape rocket, a rocket used in a system to ensure the escape of an astronaut from a booster in the event of malfunctioning. |
| 1889 Pall Mall G. 22 Apr. 3/1 A cube shaft fulfils the requirements of the Act as an *escape shaft. |
| 1951 Tuscaloosa News 16 Oct. 4/6 The problem of reaching the moon is basically that of getting rockets to fly fast enough to attain an ‘*escape’ speed—an escape speed being about 23,000 miles an hour—sufficient to escape from the pull of the earth's gravity. |
| 1850 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxiii, Fasten down the *escape-valve, and sit on it, and see where you'll land. |
| 1934 Space (Cleveland) I. iv. 1 The equation for *escape velocity is derived from the equation for the orbital velocity of a particle about a mass. 1945 H. S. Zim Rockets & Jets 207 Calculations based on the law of falling bodies indicate that a speed of about seven miles per second or 25,000 per hour is essential before ‘escape velocity’ is attained. 1954 Escape velocity [see astronaut 2]. 1959 Listener 22 Jan. 161/1 The Moon has a diameter of only 2,160 miles, and an escape velocity of one and a half miles per second. |
| 1751 Smollett Per. Pic. (1779) IV. xcvi. 184, I kept snug and laughed at his *escape-warrant. |
| 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 58 The *escape wheel is of hard hammered brass. |
Add:
[8.] escape character Computing, an escape code in the form of a single character used to indicate that subsequent characters should be interpreted differently (
esp. as belonging to a different fount), and subsequently to signal a transfer of control between different parts of a program.
| 1962 Gloss. Terms Automatic Data Processing (B.S.I.) 15 *Escape character, a character used to indicate that the digit which follows is to be interpreted as belonging to a different alphabet. 1966 IFIP-ICC Vocab. Information Processing (1968) 35 Escape character, a control character the occurrence of which in a time sequence of characters serves to assign..new graphics and meanings to the coded representations. 1989 H. Alshawi et al. in Boguraev & Briscoe Computational Lexicogr. ii. 49 The character ‘!’ is an escape character, preceding symbols with special meaning to Lisp. |
escape code Computing = shift code s.v. shift n. 20.
| 1969 MARC Manuals used by Libr. of Congress (Libr. Congr. Information Syst. Office) 18 *Escape code. 1970 Computers & Humanities IV. 247 With the new version of the United States of America Standard for Communication Information Interchange.., it is possible to have extended character sets, triggered by escape codes in the main set of characters. 1986 Your Computer Oct. 33/2 The escape code..by itself..does nothing but it causes the code following it to be treated as a control code, even if it is normally a character code. |
escape key Computing, a key on some computer keyboards which when pressed causes an escape character to be transmitted.
| 1982 F. J. Galland Dict. Computing 91/1 *Escape key, (1) a key used to change a terminal (keyboard) function. (2) A code shift key. 1984 S. Curran Word Processing for Beginners iii. 32 Sometimes Escape keys are also used as general control keys, to provide alternate key functions. 1990 Amiga Computing Dec. 100/3 Pressing the Escape key quits the game and takes you back to the options screen. |
Add:
[8.] escape sequence Computing, an escape code consisting of a sequence of characters.
| 1975 Code Extension Techniques 7-Bit Coded Character Set (Amer. Nat. Stand. Inst.) 11/2 *Escape sequences provide single or sets of control functions other than for transmission control. Escape sequences are also used to designate sets of graphics, different uses of some or all of the 7-bit code combinations, and coded character sets. 1982 Byte Apr. 298/2 Searching for a metacharacter itself requires using an ‘escape sequence’ (pressing a series of keys to escape from one mode of operation to another), a concept beginners find hard to grasp. |
▪ II. escape, n.2 Arch. (
ɪˈskeɪp)
[a. Fr. escape, earlier escappe (Godef.), ad. L. scapus: see scape2.] Properly, the shaft of a column; but (through confusion with
escape n.1) explained in Dicts. as
= apophyge.
| 1846 Parker Gloss. Archit. (1875) 109 Escape, term used sometimes for the Apophyge. 1850 Weale Dict. Terms, Escape, the scape of a column in architecture. |
▪ III. escape, v. (
ɪˈskeɪp)
Forms: α. 4–5
eschape, 6
Sc. eschaip,
echap. See also
achape,
aschape,
chape,
schape. β. (4
esscape, ? 5
eskepe, 6
eskape), 4–
escape. See also
ascape,
atscape,
ofscape,
scape.
[ME. eschape is a. Central OF. eschaper (mod.F. échapper), and ME. escape is a. ONF. escaper (mod. Picard écaper), corresp. to Pr., Sp., Pg. escapar, It. scappare:—late L. type *excappāre, f. ex out + cappa cloak. (For the sense, Diez compares Gr. ἐκδύεσθαι to put off one's clothes, to escape.) The earliest forms recorded in Eng. appear to be ascape (after the ONF. variant ascaper) and the aphetic scape, which occur in 13th c.; the former survived until 16th c.; the latter continued in ordinary use until 17th c., and as a poetic archaism (often written 'scape) is still employed. In 14th c. the forms of Central Fr. origin, eschape, aschape, achape, aphetically schape, chape, are of frequent occurrence, esp. in northern writers, while in southern use the forms from Northern Fr., escape, ascape, scape, were more common. After 15th c. the former type is found only in Sc. writers, finally disappearing in 17th c. The forms atscape, ofscape, occasional in 13–14th c., appear to be due to a confusion of the initial a- in ascape with the prepositional prefix in synonymous Eng. vbs. In
Fr. the
vb. échapper has always remained intransitive. The development of the
trans. senses in
Eng. was assisted by the formal coincidence of the dative and the accusative;
cf. also such constructions as ‘to be banished the country’. Formerly the
vb. was often conjugated with
be, not only when
intrans. (as still sometimes
arch.) but also when transitive.]
1. a. intr. To gain one's liberty by flight; to get free from detention or control, or from an oppressive or irksome condition. Const.
from,
† of,
out of.
| α [1292 Britton 27 Si il le face si negligaument garder qe il eschape.] c 1340 Cursor M. 5277 (Fairf.) Vnneþe eschaped I [Joseph, from the pit]. 1490 Caxton Eneydos xxxii. (1890) 120 And alle thus eschaped dedalus oute of the pryson of Mynos kynge of Crete. |
| β c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 201 Þat of his anguys grim so lightly was escaped. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2643 Hypermestre, Thow nescapist nought Out of my paleis, or that thou be deed. c 1392 ― Compl. Venus 50 For tescape [MS. T. teschape] oute of youre lace. 1529 More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. Wks. 1243/1 Such sure watch layd vpon him that he cannot eskape. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iv. ii. 73 He might put on a hat, a muffler, and a kerchiefe, and so escape. 1722 Wollaston Relig. Nat. ix. 216 That it once had an inhabitant, and that he is escaped out of it. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xx, How we shall prevent the guilty person from escaping in the interim. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 91 The beast also escaped from before his eyes in the desert. |
b. Of organisms, fluids, etc.: To issue, find egress, from some confining envelope or enclosure.
| c 1450 Castle Hd. Life St. Cuthb. (Surtees) 4263 All þe bolnyng was eschaped. 1825 Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 159 There is a cloth hood..to prevent the finer particles of flour from escaping. 1839 Todd Cycl. Anat. II. 409/2 The young escape fully formed through stomachal orifice. 1849 M. Somerville Connex. Phys. Sc. xxxii. 362 Common electricity escapes when the pressure of the atmosphere is removed. 1882 Garden 18 Mar. 189/2 At the time of flowering the leaves are only escaping from their buds. |
c. Of time: To slip away.
rare.
| 1836 Marryat Japhet lxxix, After two delightful hours had escaped, I returned home to the hotel. |
d. fig. To avoid or retreat from the realities of life. (
Cf. escape n.1 1 b.)
| 1939 Punch 20 Dec. 675/2 Many a publisher has had the good idea of advising you to escape really thoroughly by way of an eight hundred-and-fifty page novel about family life in the Victorian era. |
e. Of a space-craft: to attain sufficient velocity to enable it to overcome the gravitational force of a planet.
| 1947 Jrnl. Aeronaut. Sci. XIV. 471/1 The problem of imparting to a..pay load the..velocity to escape from the earth is re-examined. 1949 Jrnl. Brit. Interplanetary Soc. VIII. 79 A spaceship will escape from Earth at 11·2 kilometres a second. |
† 2. a. trans. To effect one's flight from (prison); to free oneself from (a person's grasp or control); to get safely out of (painful or dangerous conditions).
| α 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 2678 Þan may he eschape and passe lightly Þe bitter payn of purgatory. 1375 Barbour Bruce ii. 64 Thai tauld the king than hale the cas, And how that he eschapyt was. |
| β 1393 Gower Conf. II. 36 How they the prison might escape [in which they were then confined]. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 593 Suffre he shal grete travaile, And wele escape it he shal. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 228 The most tender..Plants did outlive and escape those rigorous seasons. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 14 Thee I re-visit now with bolder wing, Escap't the Stygian Pool. |
b. To issue unawares or involuntarily from (a person, his lips); to be uttered inadvertently by.
Perhaps the
obj. was originally dative, in which case this use belongs historically to sense 1. Cr.
Fr. il lui est échappé une sottise.
| α ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 1020 That the no wordez eschape, whate so be-tydez. |
| β 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. xix. (1865) 372 But his sea songs seldomer escape him. 1836 J. Grant Random Recoll. Ho. Lords xv. 366 Never did personality, or anything calumniatory of an opponent escape his lips. 1846 Ruskin Mod. Paint. I. i. i. i. §5 The feeling and fondness which I have for some works of modern art escape me sometimes where they should not. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. III. 191 No word of courtesy escaped his lips. |
3. a. intr. To get off safely when pursued or imperilled; to avoid capture, punishment, or any threatened evil; to go unhurt or unpunished.
| α c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxi. 139 Þai eschape withouten harme of body. 1588 A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. 36 Quha can eschaip? Ibid. 143 Præsumption of gods mercie to echap for sinne vnpunisched. |
| β c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 122 Ȝif any lewed man laid hand opon clerk..He suld not escape. c 1340 Cursor M. 23322 (Fairf.) Þai ar escapid of þat care. c 1386 Chaucer Monk's T. 654 But swich a reyn doun fro the welkne shadde That slow the fyr and made hym to escape. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. ix. xxv. (1495) 362 Whan nyght comyth vpon theim that ben in peryll of wracke, vnethe they may escape. 1541 Act 33 Hen. VIII, c. 12. §1 Somtime their offences..escape vnpunished. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. v. 14 Yet not escaped from the due reward Of his bad deedes, which daily he increast. 1611 Bible Acts xxvii. 44 They escaped all safe to land. 1618 Donne Serm. cxliii. V. 560 He may escape with his life. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxvii. 155 Death, from which he sees not how to escape. 1725 Watts Logic (J.), Laws are not executed, men of virtue are disgraced, and murderers escape. 1881 P. Brooks Candle of Lord 270 There are many troubles from which it is better for a man not to escape than to escape wrongly. |
† b. To recover from dangerous sickness.
Obs. Cf. Fr. échapper, ‘se tirer d'une maladie, guérir’ (Littré).
| 1464 Paston Lett. No. 490 II. 160 He is ded, or ellys ryght seke and not lyke to eskape. 1479 Ibid. No. 836 III. 251 My grandam is dyssessed..Myn uncle had a messenger ȝesterday that she shuld not escape. |
4. trans. To get clear away from (pursuit or a pursuer); to elude (a person's grasp); to succeed in avoiding (anything painful or unwelcome).
| α a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxxiii. 14 Turnynge fra ill eschapis dampnacioun. 1450 Somner in Four C. Eng. Lett. 4 If he myght eschape the daunger of the Towr he should be saffe. 1549 Compl. Scot. Prol. (1873) 17, I hef rehersit thir vordis, in hope to eschaipt the detractione of invyful gramariaris. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 25 That ye may eschaip the dangerous thirldome and captivite of the devil. |
| β 1393 Gower Conf. III. 35 He may nought the deth escape. 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) p. lv, If the court were close continually Some men should escape great payne and misery. a 1547 Surrey æneid ii. 1054 Thrice did my hands vain hold th' image escape. 1559 Mirr. Mag., Worcester xi, Shall not eskape Gods vengeaunce. 1578 Timme Calvin on Gen. 205 They might know that they were escaped a thousand deaths. 1597 Daniel Civ. Wares (1609) vii. 16 His owne person eagerly pursu'd Hardly (by Boate) escap't the multitude. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. C iiij, In a Work of this Nature it is impossible to escape Mistakes. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 96 ¶14 Truth was easily escaped by the oblique and desultory movements..which Falsehood always practised. 1751 Jortin Serm. (1771) I. iii. 45 He seems to have escaped suspicion. 1870 L'Estrange Miss Mitford I. v. 120 They cannot expect to escape being laughed at. |
5. a. To elude (observation, search, etc.); to elude the notice of (a person). Also
absol.| 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. ii. vii. (1611) 72 Many things escape them. a 1668 Denham (J.), 'Tis still the same, although their airy shape All but a quick poetick sight escape. 1670 Cotton Espernon Pref., This History may suffer..by the Faults escap'd the Press. 1698 Ludlow Mem. I. 122 Things..so well conceeal'd that they escaped the Search of the Enemy. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 129 ¶3, I..have leisure to make many Observations that escape the Notice of my Fellow-Travellers. 1821 J. Q. Adams in Davies Metr. Syst. iii. (1871) 174 It cannot escape observation, that, etc. 1847 L. Hunt Jar Honey Pref. 12 How came Shakspeare to let such a subject escape him? 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. xxxii. 416 A fact, the significance of which had previously escaped me. |
b. To elude (a person's recollection).
| 1696 Hope tr. Solleysel's Mareschal 4 Lest it might have escaped my memory, I here set it down. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. ii, The name of which escapes me. Mod. The matter quite escaped my memory. |