What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Escape vs Prevent - What's the difference?

escape | prevent |

In transitive terms the difference between escape and prevent

is that escape is to elude the observation or notice of; to not be seen or remembered by while prevent is to stop; to keep (from happening).

As verbs the difference between escape and prevent

is that escape is to get free, to free oneself while prevent is to stop; to keep (from happening).

As a noun escape

is the act of leaving a dangerous or unpleasant situation.

escape

English

(wikipedia escape)

Verb

(escap)
  • To get free, to free oneself.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=David Simpson
  • , volume=188, issue=26, page=36, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Fantasy of navigation , passage=It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: perhaps out of a desire to escape the gravity of this world or to get a preview of the next; […].}}
  • To avoid (any unpleasant person or thing); to elude, get away from.
  • * Shakespeare
  • sailors that escaped the wreck
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=March 1, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC
  • , title= Chelsea 2-1 Man Utd , passage=Luiz was Chelsea's stand-out performer, although Ferguson also had a case when he questioned how the £21m defender escaped a red card after the break for a hack at Rooney, with the Brazilian having already been booked.}}
  • To avoid capture; to get away with something, avoid punishment.
  • To elude the observation or notice of; to not be seen or remembered by.
  • * Ludlow
  • They escaped the search of the enemy.
  • (computing) To cause (a single character, or all such characters in a string) to be interpreted literally, instead of with any special meaning it would usually have in the same context, often by prefixing with another character.
  • * 1998 August, (Tim Berners-Lee) et al. , Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI): Generic Syntax (RFC 2396), page 8:
  • If the data for a URI component would conflict with the reserved purpose, then the conflicting data must be escaped before forming the URI.
  • * {{quote-book, year=2002, author=Scott Worley, chapter=Using XML in ASP.NET Applications
  • , title= Inside ASP.NET , isbn=0735711356, page=214 , passage=Character Data tags allow you to place complex strings as the text of an element—without the need to manually escape the string.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=2007, author=Michael Cross, chapter=Code Auditing and Reverse Engineering
  • , title= Developer's Guide to Web Application Security , isbn=159749061X, page=213 , passage=Therefore, what follows is a list of typical output functions; your job is to determine if any of the functions print out tainted data that has not been passed through some sort of HTML escaping function.}}
  • (computing) To halt a program or command by pressing a key (such as the "Esc" key) or combination of keys.
  • Usage notes

    * In senses 2. and 3. this is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) . See

    Derived terms

    * escape artist * escape character * escape clause * escapee * escape literature * escapement * escape pod * escape sequence * escape velocity * escapism * escapist * escapologist * escapology * fire escape

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of leaving a dangerous or unpleasant situation.
  • The prisoners made their escape by digging a tunnel.
  • (computing) escape key
  • (programming) The text character represented by 27 (decimal) or 1B (hexadecimal).
  • You forgot to insert an escape in the datastream.
  • (snooker) A successful shot from a snooker position.
  • (manufacturing) A defective product that is allowed to leave a manufacturing facility.
  • (obsolete) That which escapes attention or restraint; a mistake, oversight, or transgression.
  • * Burton
  • I should have been more accurate, and corrected all those former escapes .
  • Leakage or outflow, as of steam or a liquid, or an electric current through defective insulation.
  • (obsolete) A sally.
  • * Shakespeare
  • thousand escapes of wit
  • (architecture) An apophyge.
  • Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * 1000 English basic words ----

    prevent

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (archaic)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To stop; to keep (from happening).
  • I brushed my teeth to prevent them from going yellow.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=October 1 , author=Tom Fordyce , title=Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Scotland must now hope Georgia produce a huge upset and beat Argentina by at least eight points in Sunday's final Pool B match to prevent them failing to make the last eight for the first time in World Cup history.}}
  • * 1897 , Henry James, What Maisie Knew :
  • ‘I think you must be mad, and she shall not have a glimpse of it while I'm here to prevent !’
  • (obsolete) To come before; to precede.
  • * Bible, 1 Thess. iv. 15
  • We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
  • * Book of Common Prayer
  • We pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us.
  • * Prior
  • Then had I come, preventing Sheba's queen.
  • (obsolete) To outdo, surpass.
  • * 1596 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , IV.i:
  • With that he put his spurres vnto his steed, / With speare in rest, and toward him did fare, / Like shaft out of a bow preuenting speed.
  • (obsolete) To be beforehand with; to anticipate.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • their ready guilt preventing thy commands

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * preventative * prevention * preventive