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escalate

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To escalate is defined as to increase quickly, to become more serious or to become worse.

(verb)

An example of escalate is when the price of grain quickly goes up.
An example of escalate is when tensions between two countries become worse.

See escalate in Webster's New World College Dictionary

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intransitive verb escalated, escalating

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

Origin: back-form. < escalator

transitive verb

to cause to escalate

Related Forms:

escalation noun
escalatory adjective

See escalate in American Heritage Dictionary 4

verb es·ca·lat·ed, es·ca·lat·ing, es·ca·lates

verb, transitive

To increase, enlarge, or intensify: escalated the hostilities in the Persian Gulf.

verb, intransitive

To increase in intensity or extent: “a deepening long-term impasse that is certain to escalate” (Stewart L. Udall).

Origin:

Origin: Back-formation from escalator

Related Forms:

esˌca·laˈtion noun

esˈca·la·toˌry (-lə-tôrˌē, -tōrˌē) adjective

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