escalate Hear it!

escalate Definition

es·ca·late (eskə lāt′)

intransitive verb -·lat′ed, -·lat′·ing

  1. to rise on or as on an escalator
  2. to expand step by step, as from a limited or local conflict into a general, esp. nuclear, war
  3. to grow or increase rapidly, often to the point of becoming unmanageable, as prices or wages

Etymology: back-form. < escalator

transitive verb

to cause to escalate

escalate Related Forms

es′·ca·la·tion noun es·ca·la·to′ry (-lə tôr′ē) adjective

escalate Synonyms

escalate

v.

escalate Usage Examples

Object

  • costsmary: In each model our findings indicate escalating insurance costsmary in which the.
  • violence: There is a growing movement in Toronto at the moment to attempt to curb the escalating gun violence in the city.
  • tension: Starting in early May 1954, the tensions escalated to strikes.
  • confrontation: Hence too the escalating confrontation with Iran over its nuclear energy program.
  • annuity: This is because the starting income for a level annuity is much higher whereas an escalating annuity starts low and rises in the future.
  • conflict: International concern, already focussed on Darfur, has been growing over the escalating conflict in Chad.

Preposition: at

rate: Meanwhile the danger is escalating at a rate which should cause us all the most serious alarm.

Preposition: into

  • conflict: The Slovenes resisted this re-imposition of central control, which rapidly escalated into an armed conflict.
  • violence: Conflict seems endemic around the world, escalating into violence in which the only winners are those who deal in weapons.
  • dispute: There are ways of dealing with these disagreements which prevent them escalating into major disputes.
  • war: In 1998 a border dispute with Eritrea escalated into war.
  • situation: Communications should also include a change management strategy, to prevent any changes at work escalating into a crisis situation.

Modifies a noun

website: Below are a number of new resources recently uploaded to the ESCalate website that you may find of interest.

Modifying Another Word

  • rapidly: Worldwide, numbers of people with dementia are rapidly escalating.
  • dramatically: The trend of targeting civilians has escalated dramatically in the past few weeks.
  • sharply: They warned that costs of major construction projects have escalated sharply.
  • quickly: Like Bea Smith, Rita develops an intense hatred of Joan Ferguson, which quickly escalates into an all out war.
  • gradually: Instead, it was weak Administration policies that gradually escalated American involvement.
  • significantly: By raising a question about parades along this road residents have significantly escalated the dispute.

Used with why or when

where: Automated procedures are in place to ensure that any unresolved calls are escalated where necessary.

Browse dictionary entries near escalate

  1. escalade
  2. escadrille
  3. ESC
  4. Esbjerg
  5. Esau
  6. -es
  7. es-
  8. Es
  9. Erzurum
  10. Erzgebirge
  1. escalation
  2. escalator
  3. escalator clause
  4. escallonia
  5. escallop
  6. escapade
  7. escape
  8. escape artist
  9. escape mechanism
  10. escape velocity