We study the escape rate, dN/dt, from clusters with different radii in a tidal field using analytical predictions and direct N-body simulations. We find that dN/dt depends on the ratio R=rh/rj, where rh is the half-mass radius and rj the radius of the zero-velocity surface. For R>0.05, the "tidal regime", there is almost no dependence of dN/dt on R. To first order this is because the fraction of escapers per relaxation time, trh, scales approximately as R1.5, which cancels out the rh1.5 term in trh. For R<0.05, the "isolated regime", dN/dt scales as R-1.5. Clusters that start with their initial R, Ri, in the tidal regime dissolve completely in this regime and their tdis is insensitive to the initial rh. We predicts that clusters that start with Ri<0.05 always expand to the tidal regime before final dissolution. Their tdis has a shallower dependence on Ri than what would be expected when tdis is a constant times trh. For realistic values of Ri, the lifetime varies by less than a factor of 1.5 due to changes in Ri. This implies that the "survival" diagram for globular clusters should allow for more small clusters to survive. We note that with our result it is impossible to explain the universal peaked mass function of globular cluster systems by dynamical evolution from a power-law initial mass function, since the peak will be at lower masses in the outer parts of galaxies. Our results finally show that in the tidal regime tdis scales as N0.65/w, with w the angular frequency of the cluster in the host galaxy.