Escalate Definition
ĕskə-lāt
escalated, escalates, escalating
verb
escalated, escalates, escalating
To cause to escalate.
Webster's New World
To rise on or as on an escalator.
Webster's New World
To increase in intensity, extent, or amount.
Tensions that escalated into violence.
American Heritage
To increase, enlarge, or intensify.
Escalated the hostilities in the Persian Gulf.
American Heritage
To expand step by step, as from a limited or local conflict into a general, esp. nuclear, war.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
Origin of Escalate
Back-formation from escalator
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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Back-formation from escalator.
From Wiktionary
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