escalate

verb

ˈe-skə-ˌlāt How to pronounce escalate (audio)
Definition of escalatenext
1
as in to increase
to become greater in extent, volume, amount, or number as the war between the two countries escalated, it threatened to become a global conflict

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to accelerate
to make greater in size, amount, or number the president promised to escalate the government's program to combat the dreaded disease

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of escalate Gartner expects more than 40% of agentic AI projects, which are projects built on AI that acts on its own rather than waiting for instructions, to be scrapped by the end of 2027, citing escalating costs and unclear business value among the reasons. — Ciaran Cosgrave, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026 Even with efforts to provide additional access to harm-reduction protections, escalating criminal penalties have not produced the treatment gains or decreases in overdose deaths in Colorado that proponents promised. — Joshua Barocas, The Conversation, 16 Oct. 2026 For holiday shippers, the immediate pressure comes from demand surcharges that are set to escalate in late November. — Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 16 Oct. 2026 The movie would follow a Mexican American store owner trying to keep the peace amid protests and escalating violence. — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 15 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for escalate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for escalate
  1. increase
  2. accelerate
  3. rise
  4. expand
  5. swell
  6. augment
  7. boost
  8. raise
Verb
  • To increase supply, the International Energy Agency agreed on Thursday to release more than 20 million barrels of fuel to the market.
    — Arathy Somasekhar Reuters, Arkansas Online, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Preparing multiple missions Manufacturing more rocket hardware will not increase launch frequency unless teams can prepare several missions simultaneously.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of increase
Verb
  • Every clinical breakthrough has cost implications, accelerates the pace of change and widens the gap between what is scientifically possible and what is practical for clinicians delivering care.
    — Brad Kreick, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Its performance accelerated the slide of the ANC, once led by Nelson Mandela, which lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of apartheid and was forced to form a coalition government.
    — Tiisetso Motsoeneng, semafor.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of accelerate
Verb
  • A couple of sections in the shade, on the home sideline, rose a bit more than 3%.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 21 Oct. 2026
  • But then shipping disruptions, rising fuel costs, and steep international tariffs made exporting increasingly difficult, prompting Yu to turn her attention to building a domestic market.
    — Victoria Malloy, Time, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of rise
Verb
  • From elevating beds to expanding sections to sliding walls and even entire roofs, these 10 homes transform to get maximum use out of a compact space.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Blue Origin is expanding its Florida operations to support a much faster launch schedule, targeting multiple New Glenn flights per week by the end of the decade.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of expand
Verb
  • Engineers trying to support swelling AI workloads, video streaming, and cloud services often add thicker cables with more fiber pairs.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Hedge fund assets swell With gross assets now standing at about $13 trillion, hedge funds have become an increasingly important part of the global investor landscape, the IMF said on Tuesday.
    — Hugh Leask, CNBC, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of swell
Verb
  • There is a naturalistic aesthetic to the film, augmented by the locations, the costumes and the hair and makeup design.
    — Emily Zemler, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Enabling that mode augments the on-device scam detection first shipped in March 2025, adding cloud analysis run in Google’s Private AI Compute environment.
    — Rob Pegoraro, PC Magazine, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of augment
Verb
  • The thrusters are integrated into the rear diffuser, and they can also be used to boost the car’s forward acceleration.
    — Byron Hurd, The Drive, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The Kalispell rally sought to boost GOP congressional candidate Aaron Flint, who is in a tight race for a toss-up House seat against Democrat Sam Forstag.
    — Emily Hallas, The Washington Examiner, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of boost
Verb
  • Japan has also raised concern over China's gradual escalation of its military activity around remote Japanese islands in the Pacific Ocean.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Still, Converse’s sales hemorrhage raises fair questions about whether this is more than a cyclical decline.
    — Phil Wahba, Fortune, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of raise

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escalate
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Cite this Entry

“Escalate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/escalate. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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