escape mechanism


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escape mechanism

n
(Psychoanalysis) psychol any emotional or mental mechanism that enables a person to avoid acknowledging unpleasant or threatening realities. See also escapism
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

escape′ mech`anism


n.
a means of avoiding an unpleasant life situation, as daydreaming.
[1930–35]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.escape mechanism - a form of behavior that evades unpleasant realities
dodging, escape, evasion - nonperformance of something distasteful (as by deceit or trickery) that you are supposed to do; "his evasion of his clear duty was reprehensible"; "that escape from the consequences is possible but unattractive"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in periodicals archive ?
'To overcome such an immune escape mechanism, what we do is try to block the interaction of PD-L1 and PD-1,' Dr.
Examples include the spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) fishery in Florida, that requires the use of a degradable device since 1982 (Matthews & Donahue, 1996), the king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) and the tanner crab (Chionoecetes bairdi) fisheries in the Bering Sea, that require an escape mechanism (Macfadyen et al., 2009), the Dungeness crab fishery (Cancer magister) in Alaska, that requires the use of number 60 thread cotton twine or less as an escape cord in traps (Redekopp et al., 2006), and the snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) fishery in eastern Canada, that requires the use of 96 thread cotton twine installed in a special zipper (Winger et al., 2015).
He was young but football was a great escape mechanism for him.
As a rather empty or hollow substitute, those who fail to strike deep friendships with those closest to them have the escape mechanism of accumulating hundreds, if not thousands, of Facebook friends.
He said: "For me, it's just like if I feel like things are moving too quickly, I don't know whether I wanted even to get to know Laura particularly, I think it was just an escape mechanism that I just didn't want to rush into something.
If you can work away from the office for a few days each week, this would be an ideal scenario (but also, admittedly, this is a temporary escape mechanism).
Your lien service won't know that you signed a lien waiver, so the initial step for timely activating the escape mechanism falls on you.
Tantrums that are reinforced by allowing the child to leave and play on the iPad easily can turn into a chronic escape mechanism. Instead, parents need to watch for increasing restlessness, and allow the child to signal "all done" and be "excused" before any tantrum begins.
He prefers to spend time alone, and actively seeks out space by himself if the environment is too noisy, too light or too busy, if he does not have an escape mechanism he will be seen having a meltdown.