escalate: Meaning and Definition of
es•ca•late
Pronunciation: (es'ku-lāt"), [key] — -lat•ed, -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.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.