escalate — es‧ca‧late [ˈeskəleɪt] verb [intransitive] if amounts, prices etc escalate, they increase: • They saw costs escalating and sales slumping as the effect of rising oil prices hit the company. escalation noun [uncountable] : • The rapid escalation… … Financial and business terms
escalate — is a 1920s back formation from escalator (first recorded in 1900), and has burst the bounds of meaning that a word for a moving staircase might be expected to impose. Not surprisingly, escalate is now rarely used in its first meaning ‘to travel… … Modern English usage
escalate — 1922, back formation from ESCALATOR (Cf. escalator), replacing earlier verb escalade (1801), from the noun ESCALADE (Cf. escalade). Escalate came into general use with a figurative sense of raise after 1959 in reference to the possibility of… … Etymology dictionary
escalate — ☆ escalate [es′kə lāt΄ ] vi. escalated, escalating [back form. < ESCALATOR] 1. to rise on or as on an escalator 2. to expand step by step, as from a limited or local conflict into a general, esp. nuclear, war 3. to grow or increase rapidly,… … English World dictionary
escalate — index accrue (increase), enhance, enlarge, expand, increase, inflate, intensify, parlay (exploit successfully) … Law dictionary
escalate — [v] increase, be increased amplify, ascend, broaden, climb, enlarge, expand, extend, grow, heighten, intensify, magnify, make worse, mount, raise, rise, scale, step up, widen; concepts 236,245 Ant. decrease, diminish, lessen, lower, weaken … New thesaurus
escalate — ► VERB 1) increase rapidly. 2) become more intense or serious. DERIVATIVES escalation noun. ORIGIN originally in the sense «travel on an escalator»: from ESCALATOR(Cf. ↑escalator) … English terms dictionary
escalate — UK [ˈeskəleɪt] / US [ˈeskəˌleɪt] verb Word forms escalate : present tense I/you/we/they escalate he/she/it escalates present participle escalating past tense escalated past participle escalated 1) [intransitive/transitive] to become much worse or … English dictionary
escalate — 01. The argument outside the pub quickly [escalated] into a fistfight. 02. Prices for certain vegetables have [escalated] due to poor weather conditions in California last year. 03. Tensions in the region have [escalated] in the past few months,… … Grammatical examples in English
escalate — es|ca|late [ˈeskəleıt] v [I and T] [Date: 1900 2000; Origin: escalator] 1.) if fighting, violence, or a bad situation escalates, or if someone escalates it, it becomes much worse escalate into ▪ Her fear was escalating into panic. ▪ The fighting… … Dictionary of contemporary English
