Meaning & use
escaped
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Having got free from a prison, cage or other place of captivity.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: an escaped prisoner, an escaped parrot.
Patterns
- an escaped prisoner
- an escaped animal
Police are searching for an escaped prisoner near the river.
An escaped parrot was spotted in the park.
The escaped bull wandered down the main road.
verbtransitive or intransitive
Got away from a place, person or danger; this is the past form of escape.
Grammar: No object when you simply get free: she escaped; with an object when you avoid something: he escaped injury.
Patterns
- escape from somewhere
- escape something
- escape by doing something
The family escaped from the burning building with only minutes to spare.
He narrowly escaped injury when the ladder slipped.
Three prisoners escaped through a hole in the wall last night.
Word forms
| base form | escape |
|---|---|
| third person singular | escapes |
| -ing form | escaping |
Common combinations
- escaped prisoner
- An escaped prisoner was captured this morning.
- escaped convict
- Residents were told to lock doors because of an escaped convict.
- escaped from
- The tiger escaped from the zoo.
- narrowly escaped
- The driver narrowly escaped the crash.
- escaped detection
- The error escaped detection for months.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fled
- Fled stresses running away from danger quickly, while escaped stresses getting free from confinement or a threat.
- broke free
- Broke free suggests overcoming a physical restraint, whereas escaped can describe any getting away.
- absconded
- Absconded means left secretly to avoid arrest or a duty, while escaped means got away from confinement.
- evaded
- Evaded means avoided capture or notice by cleverness, while escaped means got out of a trap or place.
Opposites
Word family
- escape noun
- the act of getting free
- escapee noun
- a person or animal that has escaped
- escapism noun
- avoiding real life through fantasy or entertainment
- escapable adjective
- able to be avoided
- inescapable adjective
- impossible to avoid
Commonly confused: escaped or escapee?
escaped vs escapee
An escapee is a person or animal that has got away, while escaped is the verb form or the adjective placed before a noun.
Practice
Which sentence uses escaped as an adjective?
Choose one answer.
In the second sentence escaped sits before a noun and describes it. In the others it is a verb, so they do not test the adjective use.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “escaped”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.