escalate
verbUK, US /ˈɛs.kə.leɪt/ · /ˈɛs.kjə.leɪt/
Etymology Back-formation from escalator.
1
Ambitransitive To increase (something) in extent or intensity; to intensify or step up.
- Violence escalated during the election.
- The shooting escalated the existing hostility.
3 more examples
- A small fight escalated into a big fight.
- "Operating the WCML at this intensity makes it challenging to maintain acceptable performance levels, resulting in a frustratingly unreliable service for passengers. Minor disruption can escalate into significant delays because a train running only a few minutes late can miss its slot across a junction, resulting in a snowballing effect across the network."2020 May 6, Philip Haigh, “Just one more stop on the long journey to HS2 fulfillment [sic]”, in Rail, page 65:
- In another sense, public-health workers have been facing escalating hostility since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.2025 August 9, Keren Landman, “‘I’m Actually Surprised It Didn’t Happen Sooner’”, in The Atlantic:
2
In technical support, to transfer a customer, a problem, etc. to the next higher level of authority
- The tech 1 escalated the caller to a tech 2.
3
Uncommon To climb.
- Thus, actually a prior uncounselled misdemeanor conviction may often prove to be a boon to one escalating the ladder of crime to the point where he has been convicted of a major aggravated offense.1975, Federal Reporter, page 537:
- They escalated upstairs to the Mall coffee tables.1977, Graham Jackson, The Coals of Juniper, Champion Publications, →ISBN, page 48:
4 more examples
- Firms move to higher and higher levels of conflict in each arena, as if they are escalating up a ladder with each rung representing the new level of competition introduced by the last competitive maneuver.1994, Richard A. D’Aveni, Hypercompetition: Managing the Dynamics of Strategic Maneuvering, The Free Press, →ISBN:
- James worked through the basics, escalating up the ladder of complex moves.2000, Chris R. Jamison, The Chesler Legacy, Writer’s Showcase, →ISBN, page 30:
- We were escalating up a few hundred feet into the canyon.2002, V. William Barrett, Sticks and Shovels: A Modern Western Mystery, Writers Club Press, →ISBN, page 68:
- “Pretty soon, I ended up on the committee, and from there it was pretty much escalating up the ladder as district chair; sponsor chair; and two, two-year terms as ladies state chair,” Sandi says.2003, Ducks Unlimited, page 51:
4
Rare To move by escalator.
- Escalator after escalator flowed up to the heights above, […] Dov escalated up beside me, scowling.2000, David Damrosch, Meetings of the Mind, Princeton, N.J.; Oxford: Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 31:
- There were people just about everywhere, packing the garish fluorescent-lit corridors, riding in humming golf carts, escalating up and down escalators, floating along on those George Jetson moving sidewalk thingies.2014, James Patterson, Burn (Michael Bennett), Arrow Books, published 2015, →ISBN, page 32:
1 more example
- Escalating up the up escalator at Green Park Tube station was a hundred times better than walking up two loads of steps at Oxford Circus.2022, Kes Gray, Daisy and the Trouble with London, Red Fox, →ISBN:
- Derived terms
- de-escalate, escalatingly, escalation, escalatory, reescalate, unescalated