(1) A symbol that is used to modify the interpretation of the character or characters that follow it. Examples of uses of escape characters in SQL are delimiting identifiers, delimiting character constants, and modifying the special meaning of the underscore (_) and percent (%) characters in the LIKE predicate.
(2) A character that suppresses or selects a special meaning for one or more characters that follow.
(3) The control character in a text-control sequence that indicates the beginning of a sequence and the end of any preceding text.