escalate
verb
es·ca·late
ˈe-skə-ˌlāt 
nonstandard
-skyə-
escalated; escalating
: to increase in extent, volume, number, amount, intensity, or scope
a little war threatens to escalate into a huge ugly one—
Arnold Abrams
Arnold AbramsSynonyms
Examples of escalate in a Sentence
The conflict has escalated into an all-out war.
a time of escalating tensions
We are trying not to escalate the violence.
Salaries of leading executives have continued to escalate.
The cold weather has escalated fuel prices.
Recent Examples on the Web
The Carmen co-location has come up as an issue before, with a dispute over the use of Room 11 at ALBA escalating into protests at MPS' central offices in 2019.
—Rory Linnane, Journal Sentinel, 24 Apr. 2024
For residents of Ukraine’s second-largest city, daily Russian attacks have escalated fears but have not brought life to a standstill.
—Marc Santora Tyler Hicks, New York Times, 24 Apr. 2024
More:Analysts: And just like that, the pressure on GM CEO Mary Barra to execute, just escalated
Contact Jamie L. LaReau: jlareau@freepress.com.
—Jamie L. Lareau, Detroit Free Press, 24 Apr. 2024
The Biden administration had resisted sending the long-range missiles over the past two years because officials worried Ukraine would use them to strike inside Crimea or Russia and prompt Russian President Vladimir Putin to escalate the conflict.
—Courtney Kube, NBC News, 24 Apr. 2024
Many buyers and sellers at China’s biggest trade event, held in the southern city of Guangzhou, shrugged off the risk of an escalating trade war.
—Bybloomberg, Fortune Asia, 24 Apr. 2024
The demands of the position have increased coming out of the pandemic, as Equity members have been pushing for higher wages and greater understudy coverage, amid escalating costs to produce theater.
—Caitlin Huston, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Apr. 2024
Sahar told Fox News Digital that violence was bound to happen, as the university has refused to intervene for fear of escalation – which in turn, enables violence to escalate.
—Bradford Betz, Fox News, 22 Apr. 2024
Nearly 500 Palestinians have been killed since October 7th and there are ongoing clashes with Israeli settlers, which escalated after a 14-year-old settler was found dead over a week ago.
—CBS News, 21 Apr. 2024
Rory Linnane, Journal Sentinel, 24 Apr. 2024
For residents of Ukraine’s second-largest city, daily Russian attacks have escalated fears but have not brought life to a standstill.
—Marc Santora Tyler Hicks, New York Times, 24 Apr. 2024
More:Analysts: And just like that, the pressure on GM CEO Mary Barra to execute, just escalated
Contact Jamie L. LaReau: jlareau@freepress.com.
—Jamie L. Lareau, Detroit Free Press, 24 Apr. 2024
The Biden administration had resisted sending the long-range missiles over the past two years because officials worried Ukraine would use them to strike inside Crimea or Russia and prompt Russian President Vladimir Putin to escalate the conflict.
—Courtney Kube, NBC News, 24 Apr. 2024
Many buyers and sellers at China’s biggest trade event, held in the southern city of Guangzhou, shrugged off the risk of an escalating trade war.
—Bybloomberg, Fortune Asia, 24 Apr. 2024
The demands of the position have increased coming out of the pandemic, as Equity members have been pushing for higher wages and greater understudy coverage, amid escalating costs to produce theater.
—Caitlin Huston, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Apr. 2024
Sahar told Fox News Digital that violence was bound to happen, as the university has refused to intervene for fear of escalation – which in turn, enables violence to escalate.
—Bradford Betz, Fox News, 22 Apr. 2024
Nearly 500 Palestinians have been killed since October 7th and there are ongoing clashes with Israeli settlers, which escalated after a 14-year-old settler was found dead over a week ago.
—CBS News, 21 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'escalate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near escalate
Cite this Entry
“Escalate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/escalate. Accessed 2 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
escalate
verb
es·ca·late
ˈes-kə-ˌlāt
escalated; escalating
: to increase in extent, volume, or scope : expand
escalate prices
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