Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Scape?

\Scape\, n. [L. scapus shaft, stem, stalk; cf. Gr. ? a staff: cf. F. scape. Cf. {Scepter}.] 1. (Bot.) A peduncle rising from the ground or from a subterranean stem, as in the stemless violets, the bloodroot, and the like. 2. (Zo["o]l.) The long basal joint of the antenn[ae] of an insect. 3. (Arch.) (a) The shaft of a column. (b) The apophyge of a shaft.
\Scape\, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. {Scaped}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Scaping}.] [Aphetic form of escape.] To escape. [Obs. or Poetic.] --Milton. Out of this prison help that we may scape. --Chaucer.
\Scape\, n. 1. An escape. [Obs.] I spake of most disastrous chances, . . . Of hairbreadth scapes in the imminent, deadly breach. --Shak. 2. Means of escape; evasion. [Obs.] --Donne. 3. A freak; a slip; a fault; an escapade. [Obs.] Not pardoning so much as the scapes of error and ignorance. --Milton. 4. Loose act of vice or lewdness. [Obs.] --Shak.