scăpa

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *excappāre, a verb based on Late Latin cappa (“cloak”). Compare Aromanian scap, scãpari.

• IPA^(key): /skəˈpa/

• Audio:

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• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: scă‧pa

a scăpa (third-person singular present scapă, past participle scăpat) 1st conj.

1. (transitive) to drop (let fall by mistake)

   Să nu scapi paharul.

   Do not drop the glass.

   Am adunat opt ouă, însă am scăpat unul și acum sunt doar șapte.

   I gathered eight eggs, but I dropped one and now there’s only seven.

2. (intransitive) to fall down from one’s hand [with dative]

   Nici nu știu cum mi-au scăpat banii din mână.

   I don’t even know how the money fell from my hand.

   În canale se acumulează diferite lucruri care le scapă trecătorilor.

   Drains accumulate various things that drop from passers-by.

3. (intransitive, relatively informal) to rescue oneself, get away from danger

   a scăpa cu viață ― to escape with one’s life

   Dintre pasagerii Titanicului, mai puțin de o treime au scăpat.

   Of all passengers of the Titanic, less than a third survived.

4. (transitive, now informal) to rescue, get out, help out
5. (intransitive, now informal) to escape, get free, get away

   E extrem de greu să scapi din Coreea de Nord.

   It is extremely difficult to escape North Korea.

   Porcul a scăpat în curte.

   The pig got out into the yard.

6. (intransitive or reflexive, informal) to no longer need to deal with something unpleasant, whether past or potential [with de]

   Elevii de clasa a noua sunt ușurați că au scăpat de Evaluarea Națională.

   Ninth graders are relieved to be done with the high school entrance exam.

   Cu diagnosticul potrivit scapi de serviciul militar.

   With the right diagnosis you won’t have to deal with military service.

   Mai bine fac totul cât mai repede ca să mă scap.

   I’d rather get everything done as quickly as possible in order to get it over with.

7. (intransitive, informal, figurative) to escape someone, to go unnoticed, to go under one’s radar [with dative]

   Bine că mi-ai arătat cum să reglez temperatura; altfel mie sigur mi-ar fi scăpat.

   Good thing you showed me how to adjust the temperature; it would have surely went under my radar otherwise.

   Problema asta pare imposibilă; cred că ceva ne scapă.

   This problem seems impossible; I believe something is escaping us.

   • 1946, Lucian Blaga, chapter 48, in George Ivașcu, editor, Hronicul și cîntecul vîrstelor [Chronicle and song of the ages], first edition, Bucharest: Editura Tineretului, published 1965, page 251:

     Cornelia îmi comunica, într-un ton, informativ iarăși — și acest ton nu putea să-mi scape — că […]

     Cornelia notified me, again in an informative tone—and this tone couldn’t go unnoticed by me—that […]

8. (reflexive or intransitive, informal) to get rid of something or someone [with de ‘of’]
9. (transitive, informal) to rid someone of something or someone [with de ‘of’]
10. (intransitive with dative or transitive; of countable manifestations of emotions) to (be) let out, to manifest
    • 1954 July 7, Vasile Mihăilescu, “Doi Tovarăși [Two Comrades]”, in Scînteia Tineretului [Scânteia of the Youth]‎^[1], year 10, number 1616, Bucharest, page 2:

      Deabia spuse aceste cuvinte, cînd scăpă un geamăt slab și se întinse pe pătură.

      [De-abia spuse aceste cuvinte, când scăpă un geamăt slab și se întinse pe pătură.]

      Scarcely said he these words, when he let out a weak groan and laid on the blanket.

    • 1967 May, Radu Petrescu, “Drumuri [Roads]”, in Viața Romînească [Romanian Life], year 20, number 5, Bucharest, page 54; published collectively as Matei Iliescu (novel), 1970, page 100:

      Atunci îi scăpă o lacrimă care îi alunecă, arzîndu-i obrajii, pe bărbie în jos.

      Then did he let fall a tear, which fell, burning his cheeks, down his chin.

    • 1999, Mircea Danieluc, chapter 5, in Marilena și cîteva voluptăți [Marilena and a few pleasures], Bucharest: Univers, →ISBN, page 221:

      Evocîndu-l pe Paul, Marilena Puică scăpă un oftat.

      Evoking Paul, Marilena Puică let out a sigh.

11. (intransitive, informal, of things one isn’t supposed to say) to slip out [with dative]

    Prezentatorului i-au scăpat câteva remarci nepotrivite în direct.

    The presenter had a few inappropriate remarks slip out while live.

12. (chiefly reflexive, often catenative, informal) to let slip (say something one shouldn’t have)
13. (reflexive, informal, often euphemistic) to be unable to contain one’s excretion, especially under duress
14. (transitive, of an opportunity or occasion) to miss, fail to profit from
15. (transitive, informal, now rare) to miss (not reach in time)

    Synonyms: pierde, rata

    • 1950, Eusebiu Camilar, chapter 10, in Negura [The fog], volume 2, Editura de Stat, page 88:

      Trecu repede pe lângă santinelă, ca un călător grăbindu-se să nu scape trenul.
      ― Stai ! Unde ? întrebă un glas mânios de sub cască și Bart răspunse din mers :
      ― Lasă… fii om… scap trenul…

      He quickly passed the sentinel by, like a traveller rushing in order not to miss the train.
      “Halt! To where?” asked an angry voice from under a helmet, and Bart answered without stopping:
      “Don’t bother… have mercy… I’m missing my train.”

16. (transitive, rare) to relax and lower a body part
17. (intransitive, now rare) to flee
18. (transitive, regional, agriculture) to neglect to perform an operation on a crop and thus spoil its output
19. (impersonal, catenative, regional) to feel like [with dative]

    Synonym: îi veni

• scăpare
• scăpat
• scăpa din vedere
• scăpa printre degete

• scăpa in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)