escalate

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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 on an escalator'. By the 1950s, it had come into regular use to mean 'to increase or develop rapidly by stages', chiefly in the context of military and political conflict. Typical examples from that time (the first intransitive, the second transitive, i.e. with an object) are:

The possibility of local wars 'escalating into all-out atomic wars'—Manchester Guardian, 1959

Using tactical nuclear weapons which would be likely to escalate hostilities into a global nuclear war—Economist, 1961.

In more recent use, escalate continues to be used in such contexts but has extended beyond them:

The police more often came under physical attack and began to respond with a steadily escalating counter-violence—Liberty and Legislation, 1989

Her previous calm gave way to terror that escalated until it threatened to overwhelm her—E. Blair, 1990

Motoring organisations yesterday urged drivers involved in a road rage encounter to try to keep calm and not to react in a way which could escalate the situation—Herald (Glasgow), 2000

As a means of controlling escalating domestic prices and utilising all of China's resources for domestic consumption, Beijing has recently abolished the 8% tax rebates on exports—Lloyd's List, 2007.

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verb

To make or become greater or larger: aggrandize, amplify, augment, boost, build, build up, burgeon, enlarge, expand, extend, grow, increase, magnify, mount, multiply, proliferate, rise, run up, snowball, soar, swell, upsurge, wax. Informal beef up. See increase/decrease.

v

Definition: increase, be increased
Antonyms: decrease, diminish, lessen, lower, weaken

For a list of words related to escalation, see:

• Types and Techniques of Warfare - escalation: increase in violence, arsenal, or area of conflict
• Security and Defense - escalation: dynamic increase in tension, hostility, and conflict

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See words rhyming with "escalate."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Escalate.

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - få til at stige, gradvis udvikle til, lade eskalere, optrappe, gradvis øge
v. intr. - stige, gradvis udvikle sig, eskalere

Nederlands (Dutch)
escaleren, zich uitbreiden

Français (French)
v. tr. - intensifier, faire monter en flèche (des prix)
v. intr. - s'intensifier (la violence, la lutte), monter en flèche (des prix)

Deutsch (German)
v. - eskalieren, sich ausweiten

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - ανεβάζω, ανεβαίνω, κλιμακώνω/-ομαι, αυξάνω σε ένταση, έκταση ή κλίμακα

Italiano (Italian)
intensificare, intensificarsi

Português (Portuguese)
v. - aumentar progressivamente

Русский (Russian)
обострять, ввергнуть, повышать

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - agudizar, agravar, intensificar
v. intr. - agudizar, agravar, intensificar

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - öka kraftigt, trappa upp, eskalera

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
使逐步上升, 逐步扩大, 逐步增强, 逐步升高

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 使逐步上升
v. intr. - 逐步擴大, 逐步增強, 逐步升高

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 증가하다
v. intr. - 에스컬레이터로 이동하다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 段階的に拡大する, エスカレートする, 上昇する

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يزيد من حدة, يصعد‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮הסלים, עלה, החריף‬
v. intr. - ‮הסלים, עלה, החריף‬

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