phrase C2 a situation in which you avoid danger although you very nearly do not: 死里逃生 We got out in time but it was a narrow escape.我们险些未能及时逃脱。 There were several narrow escapes from drowning, but somehow each time he survived. He had a very narrow escape from death when his aircraft came down in a storm. She had a narrow escape yesterday when the coach that she'd been travelling in careered off the road and ended up upside down in a ditch. See also