Getaway: An Escape, or a Weekend Away
A getaway is an escape after a crime and a short holiday. The same word covers a bank robbery and a weekend in the country.
A getaway is an escape. Crime reporting made it famous — the getaway car, the getaway driver — and the travel trade then borrowed the same word for a weekend break, because a short holiday is also an escape, just a legal one.
- An escape, especially after a crime. *A clean getaway.*
- A short holiday. *A weekend getaway.*
- A quick start. *A fast getaway from the lights.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | getaway | A quick getaway. |
| Plural | getaways | Romantic getaways. |
| Compound | getaway car | The getaway car. |
| Verb phrase | get away | They got away. |
| Related | escape | A daring escape. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The gang made their getaway on foot.Make a getaway is the set phrase.
- We booked a getaway in the Lake District.Travel advertising.
- He was the getaway driver, nothing more.A specific criminal role.
Escape words
- Getaway — the leaving itself, usually planned
- Escape — getting free from confinement
- Flight — running away, often in fear
- Breakout — an escape from a prison
- Exit strategy — a planned way out of a situation
A twentieth-century noun made from the phrasal verb *get away*. English builds nouns this way constantly: breakout, takeaway, lookout, handover.
Getaway or get away?
Two words for the verb, one for the noun: they got away in a getaway car.
Is *getaway* only about crime?
No. Travel companies use it for short holidays, and the criminal sense is clear from context when it is meant.