escalate

verb

es·​ca·​late ˈe-skə-ˌlāt 

nonstandard

-skyə- 

escalated; escalating

intransitive verb

: to increase in extent, volume, number, amount, intensity, or scope

… a little war threatens to escalate into a huge ugly one …

—Mike Mansfield

transitive verb

: expand sense 2

escalation

ˌe-skə-ˈlā-shən 

nonstandard -skyə-

noun

escalatory

ˈe-skə-lə-ˌtȯr-ē 

nonstandard -skyə-

adjective

Synonyms of escalate

• increase
• rise
• accelerate
• swell
• expand

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

Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting rebels in the resource-rich eastern DRC, and fighting has escalated ahead of the meeting, highlighting the difficulty of reaching — and maintaining — truces, even if overseen by the US president. —semafor.com, 8 Dec. 2025

Their ongoing feud escalated when Jimmy Kimmel Live! —Greta Bjornson, PEOPLE, 8 Dec. 2025

Chinese robotics player EngineAI has escalated its response to growing skepticism around its new T800 humanoid robot. —Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 8 Dec. 2025

Tensions escalated quickly and police said the agents used pepper spray and other chemical agents to push the crowd back. —Darius Johnson, CBS News, 8 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

back-formation from escalator

First Known Use

1944, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Phrases Containing escalate

• de-escalate
• re-escalate

Rhymes for escalate

• abdicate
• abrogate
• acetate
• activate
• actuate
• adsorbate
• aggravate
• agitate
• alginate
• alienate
• allocate
• amputate

Kids Definition

escalate

verb

es·​ca·​late ˈes-kə-ˌlāt 

escalated; escalating

: to increase in extent, volume, or scope : expand

escalate prices

escalation

ˌes-kə-ˈlā-shən 

noun