- escalate⇄escalate, verb, -lated,-lating.
- escalate⇄v.i. 1. to increase or decrease in proportion to some index.
Ex. As prices go up, costs escalate.
2. to increase or expand by stages.
Ex. The commotion in the sports arena almost escalated into a riot. The greater the number of nuclear - escalate⇄v.t. 1. to increase or decrease (prices, wages, or benefits), especially automatically, in proportion to some index, such as cost of living.
2. to expand or increase (something) by stages.
Ex. The general escalated the war by sending in more