escape -> es·cape/iˈskāp/ Verb: Break free from confinement or control. Noun: An act of breaking free from confinement or control. Synonyms: verb. flee - run away - evade - get away - elude - avoid noun. flight - getaway - rescue - salvation flee flee/flē/ Verb: Run away from a place or situation of danger: "a man was shot twice as he fled from five masked youths". Run away from (someone or something): "he was forced to flee the country". Synonyms: escape - run away - fly - abscond - get away - shun

Oftentimes, these two are interchanged. 'Escape' stresses the fact of getting away or being passed by not necessarily through effort or by conscious intent. While 'to flee' means to run away often from danger or evil.

They both are used in a very similar way, but they do have a difference. "escape" is generally used when you can't freely decide to (or shouldn't) leave a place, or you are trapped. For example: "He escaped prison". "The mouse escaped from the trap." "flee" is used when you decided to leave a place, and that's why it is sometimes used to refer to cowards. Example: "That coward fled the battle!". The following similar sentences may help to further explain the difference: "She escaped the country." -> It means that she wasn't supposed to leave (it may have been that she committed a crime and the police was searching for her). "She fled the country." -> It means that she decided to leave, maybe because the country was very dangerous and decided to move to another one.

Also: Escape refers to act of successfully getting away.. Whereas fleeing is the act of getting (usually running) away. If you escape, then you are free. But if you are fleeing, you can still be caught.

The two mean about the same. Escape: to leave quickly; to regain freedom or liberty (to escape from jail) Flee: to run away, as from danger (or escape: to leave quickly from danger)