Basic Details
Word: Escaped
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Got away from a place, a person or a danger that was holding you back. Gas, water or a sound can also be said to have escaped when it leaks out.
Synonyms: fled, got away, broke free
Antonyms: captured
How to Spell Escaped
Syllables: es - caped
Tricky part: It begins with es, not ex, though many students hear an x and write excaped. The p is single, and the d simply follows the e of escape.
Watch out for: excaped, escapped, eskaped
Memory tip: Escape starts like escalator, with es. After that it is just cape, and the past form adds a d: es + cape + d.
Idioms and Phrases
- escape someone's notice: to go unseen or unnoticed by someone Example: "The small crack in the vase escaped the shopkeeper's notice."
Usage Examples
Example 1: Our parrot escaped through the open window and sat on the neem tree till evening.
Example 2: Steam escaped with a loud hiss when Ma lifted the lid of the cooker.
Example 3: Only two of the deer escaped before the forest guards closed the gate.
Fun Fact
Escape is thought to come from a Latin phrase meaning out of one's cape: a prisoner could wriggle out of his cloak and leave it in the guard's hands.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. escaped 2. fugitve 3. captered 4. persued
a) a person who has run away, especially from the police
b) caught and kept as a prisoner
c) followed someone in order to catch them
d) got free from a place or person that was holding you
Show answer
d) got free from a place or person that was holding you. Fugitive needs an i before ve, and captured and pursued both have ur, which leaves escaped as the one correct word.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
Two monkeys dacepes from the zoo and spent the afternoon stealing bananas in the market.
a) escaped
b) spaced
c) scraped
d) escorted
Show answer
a) escaped. The letters c, a, p, d, s and two e's make escaped, and runaway monkeys fit the sentence.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
esscaped
a) e
b) c
c) s
d) d
Show answer
c) s. Escape has a single s right after the first e.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word escaped as used in the sentence:
The thief escaped through the back door before the guards could reach him.
a) remained
b) surrendered
c) returned
d) fled
Show answer
d) fled. To flee is to run away, which is exactly what the thief did.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. When steam escaped from the kettle, it ____.
a) turned into milk
b) stayed inside
c) leaked out
d) froze solid
Show answer
c) leaked out
2. If a person's name has escaped you, you have ____.
a) shouted it
b) forgotten it
c) spelt it wrongly
d) written it down
Show answer
b) forgotten it
