verb (used with or without object), es·ca·lat·ed, es·ca·lat·ing.
- to increase in intensity, magnitude, etc.: to escalate a war; a time when prices escalate.
- to raise, lower, rise, or descend on or as if on an escalator.
verb
- to increase or be increased in extent, intensity, or magnitudeto escalate a war; prices escalated because of inflation
1922, back-formation from escalator, replacing earlier verb escalade (1801), from the noun escalade. Escalate came into general use with a figurative sense of “raise” after 1959 in reference to the possibility of nuclear war. Related: Escalated; escalating.